


Through the Valley of Death

by bunnyspek



Series: Death Has No Hold on Love [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: "Odin", Canon-Appropriate Violence, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Teambuilding, dead bodies, graverobbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:10:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnyspek/pseuds/bunnyspek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At that exact moment, she felt her chest catch fire.<br/>“Wanda!”<br/>“Oh, christ-”<br/>“Stand back, give her room-”</p><p>	“I'm sorry.”<br/>She was standing on the edge of a cliff.<br/>“Pietro?”<br/>She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended.<br/>“I'm so sorry.”<br/>She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended, and her brother was falling.</p><p>In which science and magic are really hard to distinguish, Clint has a few more kids than he bargained for, Hel is uncooperative, and the loose ends of Age of Ultron are hopefully all tied up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares and Thunderstorms

_The wind was howling around her, tearing at her face and hands. The bullets sliced through like paper. She couldn't feel them. Not yet._

_“Help me.”_

_She felt the blood before the pain. She sucked in a breath and felt her chest catch fire. Felt herself drowning._

_“Wanda.”_

_She moved so fast. She could save them. She could do this._

_“Didn't see that coming.”_

_She screamed._

_The bullets sliced through and she sucked in a breath. She felt herself drown. She felt her chest catch fire._

_“I can't leave,” he said._

_“You have to.”_

_“I've tried.”_

_The bullets ripped through her chest in slow motion. She watched the skin burst apart, saw the holes begin to ooze. She was drowning in her own blood._

_“You have to help me.”_

_“I don't know how.”_

_“Then I might be screwed,” he said dryly._

_She screamed and felt the world explode around her._

_“You can't stay here!”_

_“I can't leave without you!”_

_“I have nowhere else to go.”_

_She moved fast. The bullets sliced through like paper. She couldn't feel them. Not yet. She could save them. She could do this. She sucked in a breath and felt herself drowning. Her chest was on fire. Her legs were giving out. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel. She couldn't-_

“Wanda!”

She came to gasping and screaming.

“Wanda! It's okay, you're safe. Just breathe. Wanda? You have to just breathe.”

She buried her face in his chest.

“You're safe,” Steve said, gently stroking her back. “I've got you. You're safe.”

She didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't her she was afraid for.

 

* * *

 

Breakfast was awkward.

To be fair, breakfast was usually some kind of strange. Sam was cooking, which was good, because Sam could _cook._ Rhodey and Steve could feed themselves, and Romanoff could probably approach a kitchen with her usual impossible skill but refused. Everyone else was hopeless. Vision didn't eat, and Wanda had never seen Stark cook and had been told in no uncertain terms that she never would. For her part, Wanda had a tendancy to forget about the open flames and wander off, distracted by her own thoughts.

Pietro had always done the cooking, when they needed it, or followed her around the kitchen putting out the fires she'd accidentally set.

“What shape?” Sam called as she walked into the kitchen. Romanoff was sitting at the table icing a nastly-looking lump on her head.

“What?” she rasped, throat raw from screaming last night.

“Pancakes,” Sam said. “What shape?”

She shrugged. Sam studied her. “I'll make you a mouse. It's classic.”

“Where is everyone?” she said hoarsely, sitting next to Romanoff, whose pancake appeared to have been a man she'd since decapitated.

“Steve just got back from a run,” Sam said cheerfully, “which means Rhodey is either gonna be here soon or he died of exhaustion-”

“Wasn't Steve doing a marathon today?” Romanoff said, putting down the ice and biting off one of the pancake's arms.

“Yup. I think Rhodey was joining for the last ten miles.” Sam flipped the pancake out of the pan with a flick of his wrist and caught it again, batter-side down.

“What happened?” Wanda said, nodding towards Romanoff's bruise.

“You,” she said tersely. “Last night.”

Wanda looked down guiltily. She could feel the chastising look Sam was shooting Natasha, waves of vague irritation and worry.

“Eat up,” he said chipperly, dropping the pancake onto her plate. She reached for the syrup and doused her breakfast.

“Clint's coming over today to look at the missing persons case,” Romanov said finally. Sam nodded.

“Tony said he'd come over for dinner, too.”

“Full house,” Romanoff said, sipping her coffee.

Rhodey and Steve entered the kitchen within moments of each other. Both were damp, Rhodey with sweat, Steve from a shower.

“I am never going for a run with you again,” Rhodey said, collapsing into a chair on the other side of Romanoff. Steve just smirked, wrapping his arms around Sam from behind.

“You didn't do the “on your left” thing, did you?” Sam asked, grinning up at his boyfriend. “Cause that's our thing.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I made sure to pass him on the right.”

“Get a room,” Romanoff called, throwing a berry at Steve's ass, but her eyes were soft. Wanda could feel sadness rolling off her.

“Can I have a star pancake?” Steve said, heading over to the table. He smiled at Wanda and she felt guilt twist her stomach. “How are you feeling?”

 _Sick._ At that exact moment, she felt her chest catch fire.

“Wanda!”

“Oh, christ-”

“Stand back, give her room-”

“ _I'm sorry.”_

_She was standing on the edge of a cliff._

_“Pietro?”_

_She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended._

_“I'm so sorry.”_

_She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended, and her brother was falling._

She snapped back into the kitchen just as the bullets ripped through her chest once more. She fell to her knees, gasping, clutching her chest. She opened her mouth to scream-

A cool, red hand clamped down around her mouth and over her eyes.

“Miss Maximoff,” a soft voice said calmly in her ear. “I am terribly sorry, but I needed to prevent you from doing any damage. I promise you, you are perfectly safe. I am going to let you go now. Please simply try to breathe.”

He let her go, and she fell to the ground. She stared at the wood for a few frantic seconds, pulling the oxygen into her lungs. Finally she looked up.

“Are you alright?” Vision said kindly.

She nodded, panting slightly. “Thank you.”

“I was merely trying to assist you,” the android said, almost stuttering. “I hope I did not add to your distress at all.”

She took another deep breath and managed a smile. “I'm alright,” she said. She looked around. “Is everyone else?”

Steve was kneeling on the other side of her. “We're fine,” he said. “You didn't hurt us.”

They came on a wave of comfort, but the words still curdled Wanda's stomach. “Please, excuse me,” she said, pushing herself off the ground. “I need to- take a walk.”

She could feel their worried glances following her, the anxiety and distrust. She pushed past it, moving up through the base without thinking, passing SHIELD agents who ducked out of her way and watched her go with fear in her eyes.

 _What am I still doing here?_ she wondered as pushed open the door to the roof. _Why am I pretending to be something I'm not?_

She sat back and let her powers take her. 

 

_“I'm calling Barton.”_

_“What good is he going to do?”_

_“She trusts him. Respects him.”_

_“She respects you, Steve, if she hasn't told you what's up yet-”_

_“Nat. She needs him.”_

_“Yeah. Okay. Call him. But if I were you, I'd get a goddamned therapist and I'd get one on speeddial.”_

_“Nat.”_

_“You're Mister Idealism here. I'm just the one following you around to make sure it doesn't get you killed.”_

_“She wouldn't hurt anyone.”_

_“No. Not on purpose.”_

“I wouldn't have expected to see you up here.”

Wanda looked up, startled back into her own head. Vision was floating down towards her, cape rippling.

“Do you ever wear jeans?” she asked. He landed softly and sat down next to her.

“Do you think I should?” he said. She shrugged.

“I'd like to see it.”

He nodded slightly. “I would like to see you smile more often.”

She looked away, startled slightly.

“I don't wish to be forward. I just- I don't like seeing you unhappy.”

She chuckled softly. “I don't like it either.”

“I understand you are grieving,” he said, “and I am not trying to rush that, or belittle it. I just want you to know- we don't want you to be unhappy.”

“We?”

“They're good people downstairs.”

She nodded. “I think they are.” She sighed. “They can't change anything, though.”

“No,” Vision said quietly. “No. They can't.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the lawn. A car rumbled down the gravel road.

“Why are you here?” she asked finally.

Vision was still watching the ground. “I like the height,” he said. “I like the ability to see a wider picture. It's a good place to think.” He looked over at her. “You?”

Wanda looked away. “When we were children Pietro and I used play hide-and-seek. He'd always go up to the roof to hide. I didn't like heights. He didn't think I'd follow him.”

“Did you?” Vision said.

“Of course.” She looked over at him and smiled. “I couldn't let him win.”

There was a loud clap of thunder and Wanda started. Vision rose fluidly and held out his arms to her. “Here. Let me help you down.”

She allowed him to scoop her up close to his chest, trying not let her face color at his nearness. He lifted smoothly off the roof and floated them down to the front door. Steve was standing just inside.

“Hey,” he said, opening the door. “I didn't know it was going to rain today.”

Vision tilted his head to the side. “It isn't,” he said faintly.

Steve looked confused for a second, then his whole face lit up. “Thor!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole avengers gang gets together for dinner, and things go exactly as well as one might expect.

“What, you can't call first?”

From within the charred circle on the lawn the demigod rose and turned, beaming. “Steven.”

Steve ran across the still smoking yard to hug the Asguardian, who boomed with laughter. They broke apart, still grinning, and Thor held out his arms to Natasha.

“Don't mind me,” she smirked. “I'm just enjoying the show.”

He crossed over to her in three bounding steps and scooped her up into a swirling hug. “I have missed your quick wit.”

“Okay. Fragile mortal lungs, remember?” she gasped, ruffling his hair. He released her gently and she smiled up at him, a real, open smile. “I've missed you too.”

Sam and Rhodey came outside just then, shouting cheerful greetings. Thor wrung each of their hands and clasped Vision's shoulder.

“How are you?” he said, blue eyes gazing piercingly into the android's.

“Well,” Vision said, clapping Thor's hand. “Truly.”

Thor grinned and dropped his arm, turning to face Wanda. He dropped to one knee and kissed her hand. “Lady Wanda.”

“What brings you back, man?” Sam said. “Please don't say aliens.”

“No, nothing so dramatic,” Thor said. “I simply wanted to check in. I was visiting Jane-”

“Uh-huh,” Rhodey cut in smoothly. “We can imagine. No need for details.”

Thor grinned at them. “Where are the others?”

“Stark should be here in a few hours,” Natasha said, checking her watch. “He stays in the city for the most part, running the company. And the Bartons are still packing up the farm to move out here, but Clint is due any minute now.”

“It's good to have you back,” Steve said, clapping Thor's shoulder. “I've wanted to talk to you lately.”

Wanda tried to convince herself she had imagined Steve looking at her with concern as he said it.

 

* * *

 

“So this woman keeps going on and on about all this stupidity and how she was just trying to protect the kids, right? For at least five minutes and finally I stood up – Laura was about ready to kill me, I swear – And I just threw this pencil right at the podium. Of course, it hits, and the woman looked like she was about to piss herself, and I'm standing there all avenger-y and I just say-” Clint paused for dramatic effect - “I think my good friend _Captain America_ would have something very strong to say to you, lady.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

“Laura must have loved that,” Natasha said.

“I was sleeping on the couch for a few days, yeah,” Clint said. “But come on. It's 2015 and this whackjob wants to ban books?”

“Good for you, Clint,” Steve said, rising to get more food.

“You're lucky all you had to do was sleep on the couch,” Tony said. “Last time I picked a fight like that at a board meeting Pepper demoted me for a week.”

“And you were sleeping on the couch,” Rhodey said, chuckling.

“And I was sleeping on the couch. Which, despite being very expensive, was very uncomfortable.”

“So did you win the vote?” Sam said, passing the potatoes down towards the end of the table.

“Of course,” Clint scoffed. “Who in their right mind is going to ban Darwin's book now, for god's sake?”

Natasha shrugged. “I used to use books like that to send messages.”

Clint stared at her. “Really?”

She nodded. “It's old-school but effective. Pretty easy to find in most libraries.”

“Bullshit,” Clint said. Everyone's heads snapped up.

“Language!” they called gleefully. Next to the buffet, Steve was turning bright pink.

“Whatever,” Clint said, waving a hand to dismiss Natasha, who was already chatting with Thor. He turned to Wanda, sitting on his other side. “So how ya doing, kid?”

She shrugged. “I think you already know.”

He nodded, chewing on a chicken leg. “Yeah, but I figured I'd give you a chance to tell me.”

“There's nothing to tell,” she said steelily.

Clint watched her for a few more seconds. “Okay,” he said finally, taking a long sip of his beer. “I can come by tomorrow if you want to hit the range again.”

“Maybe.”

“Or you can come see the kids. They'd like that.”

She looked down at her plate without saying anything, guilt tightening her stomach. “I'll be right back,” she said, pushing back her chair and rising.

“Grab me another beer while you're out,” Clint called as she left.

 

She pushed her way into the bathroom and found it dark. It was soothing, calming, after all the noise and light of the dining room. She ignored the lightswitch on the wall, instead splashing cool water on her face, letting it drip from her cheeks back into the basin in slow motion, aware of every bead falling.

_“I'm not saying she's dangerous,” Steve said._

_“Then what are you saying?” Tony said, tapping his foot anxiously._

_“I think she's – sick.”_

_“She is grieving,” Thor rumbled. “It's natural.”_

_“Not like this,” Steve said. “This isn't healthy. It's – strange.”_

_“You're really worried about it?” Tony asked quietly._

_“I really am. It's like there's something more going on, something that I just can't put my finger on. I don't know what it is, but it's there. And I've talked to Sam, and he agrees with me. We can't tell if it's her powers or what but whatever this is, its more than just post-traumatic stress.”_

_“You think it's magic,” Thor said._

_“Do you?”_

_The vision of a young boy, dark-haired with eyes too large for his face flicked into the demigod's mind, talking quietly to the air. “What are you saying?” the child-thor asked. “I'm asking the dead a question,” the dark-haired boy replied. “You can't do that,” Thor said. The other boy shrugged. “Sometimes the dead aren't quite gone, Thor,” he said. “Sometimes they just wait in hel for somebody to save them.” The child-thor shivered. “And if no one does?” The other boy stared back at the wall. “Some of them go on. Outside hel, to whatever comes after. Others – others stay there forever.”_

_“I think it is something,” Thor said._

_“Yup,” Stark said. “Definitely something.”_

“Oops! Sorry,” Sam said, startling as he almost walked into Wanda's back. “I didn't realize it was occupied.”

“No,” she said, toweling off her face. “I am done.”

“Hey,” he said, catching her arm lightly as she made to leave. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I ate a little too much.”

“Okay,” he said, watching her closely. “Just checking.”

She managed a smile and pushed out into the hall. 

_Sometimes the dead aren't quite gone._

Wanda was going to get her brother back.

 

Clint Barton was a simple man. He just wanted to do his job and take care of his family.

It wasn't his fault the two had started overlapping.

“Going somewhere?”

Wanda froze in the doorway, silhouetted by the moonlight. Clint pulled out of the shadows and planted himself in the hallway. “How'd you disable the alarm?”

Her eyes flashed red in answer and Clint nodded thoughtfully. He sighed. “Where are you going, kid?”

“Doesn't matter.”

“It kinda does. You say, 'I'm meeting a cute boy to go to the movies,' I send you off, no problem. 'I'm going out clubbing,' also no problem. 'There's a supervillian controlling my every move' is a bit more of an issue, but, hey, we can work it out.”

“There's something I have to do.”

“What?”

“You wouldn't believe me.”

Clint chuckled. “I stopped not believing things after New Mexico, kid. Try me.”

Wanda chewed her lip for a moment. Clint stepped forward, hands slightly raised, his body language soothing and non-threatening.

“Look in my head, okay?” he said. “You can trust me.”

Her eyes glowed crimson. Clint held her gaze steadily.

“The god,” she said finally, eyes brown once more. “He thinks my brother is still out there. In his world of the dead. I saw it.”

“Wanda-”

“I can't just leave him there!” she snapped, red light pulsating out of her.

“Whoa,” Clint said. “Easy, kid.”

She sucked in a few deep breaths until her eyes faded back to brown.

“What's the plan?” he said cautiously. “You just gonna march up to the gates of hell and scream until your brother comes out?”

“Maybe,” she said bitterly.

“Wanda,” Clint said. “Be smart about this.”

“I have to do this,” she said, and her voice was like knives, it was so heartbreakingly desperate.

Clint sighed. “Yeah,” he said, dragging his hands down his face. “You do. But not alone.”

 

“This is impossible. Thor, tell her this is impossible!”

Thor sat quietly, eyes fixed on Wanda's over his folded hands. She met his gaze steadily, lips tight with defiance.

“I can't believe you're encouraging this,” Steve barked at Clint.

“Look, if there's a chance it could work-”

“You're messing with things you don't understand-”

“All of us are here because somebody messed with something they didn't understand!”

“This is life and death, Clint. Remember what happened the last time we messed with that?” Next to Steve, Tony shifted guiltily. “Remember why Pietro isn't here?”

“Yeah, he died saving me! So if there's any chance at all I can repay that favor, you bet your ass I will!”

“Thor, why aren't you backing me up on this?” Steve snapped, whirling around to glare at him. “Thor!”

Thor raised his glance to meet Steve's. “Because she is right.”

Steve slumped. “I can't believe this.”

“I don't know for certain if what I believe is true,” Thor said. “But I have seen others with her powers, and it seems likely to me.”

“What does?” Steve said tiredly.

“When Loki and I were children, he was – often strange.” Thor began.

“Stranger than he became, you mean?” Clint said bitterly. Thor ignored him.

“There is a place, where souls can go, in some rare cases. Asguardians call it Hel, although it is different from your Midguardian version. I believe Jane would probably call it a – pocket dimension. I do not know if you understand that.”

“I do have a doctorate, I can keep up,” Tony said tightly.

Thor nodded, too involved in his own thoughts to notice the tension in his friends beside him. “Loki would often be able to hold conversations with those within the veil. And occasionally, they would torment him. Once they latched on, it was very, very hard to convince them to let him go.” He placed a gentle hand on Wanda's. “I fear that may be happening to you now.”

“So, what, Pietro's ghost is haunting Wanda and that's what's been causing her to – whatever?” Steve said, his voice heavy with scornful disbelief. “That doesn't make any sense. Why would he even end up in some Asguardian dimension anyway?”

“Captain Rodgers, if I may,” Vision interrupted smoothly in his usual quiet and thoughtful tone. “In principle, I agree with you. What's dead, unfortunately, should remain dead. But this death is – wrong. More so than any other. And I think we can all guess why.” He knelt next to Wanda. For the first time she looked slightly fearful, refusing to meet the android's eyes.

“Wanda,” Vision said softly. “He was with you, wasn't he? When he died?”

“I could feel it,” she murmured. “I could feel him.”

“An imprint of his mind was left in hers,” Tony said, startlingly quiet for him.

“So he's not really dead?” Clint said.

“He has not passed,” Vision said. “And it is our duty to either return him to his body or deliver him to the other side.”

Steve was biting his lip worriedly. Sam slid a steadying arm around his waist. “I think we should do it,” Sam said quietly. Steve nodded slightly.

“You're sure about this?” he said to Vision.

Vision nodded, not looking away from Wanda.

“Okay,” Steve said. “Let's figure this out.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I was super impressed with the response I've gotten so far. Comment to let me know what you think and keep me motivated cause the next chapter is when things start getting more complicated! also, if you want to follow me on tumblr at bunnyspek.tumblr.com, you can witness me crying over my own headcannons in a much less formal and edited manner. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clint takes a selfie, Tony's stuck in the backseat, and the lady Sif is not amused.

“If we're going to do this, we need to be smart about it,” Steve said. They were all still sitting around the kitchen table, serious faces at odds with the pajamas or jeans most of them wore. “What do we need to do?”

Everyone turned to either Thor or Wanda. They both looked slightly concerned by the attention.

“Thor,” Steve said. “You seem to know the most about this. Have you ever seen something like this done?”

“Only once,” Thor said. “With my mother.”

“And?” Tony said after a moment.

Thor sighed. “A rogue sorcerer had attacked our castle when I was a small boy. One of the guards was badly injured, and my mother was called to help them. She took me with her. I was young. The safest place for me was by her side.” He shifted uneasily in his seat. “They had repaired the man's wounds, but he was still... fading. His heart stopped, and my mother told the other healers to keep his heart beating while she retrieved the soul.”

“What does that mean?” Natasha said, a little snappily. Clint bumped his knee against hers under the table.

“My mother explained it like this,” Thor said. “When the body dies, the soul becomes untethered. If you can catch the soul and return it to a living body-”

“So Pietro needs a body,” Tony said. “Sounds like a job for Helen.”

“More than that,” Thor said. “The only time I have ever heard of it working is with the soul's original body.”

“Could Helen repair a decomposing body?” Steve asked Tony. Tony looked faintly green but nodded.

“I think so. I mean, it's not my area of expertise. Bru-” he stopped himself. “I can ask her right now.” He pushed back his chair and moved out of the room, tapping buttons on his phone as he went. Clint glanced over at Natasha, a little worriedly. She just glared back at him evenly.

Clint's phone buzzed and he looked down, expecting a snappish text from Nat along the lines of _“leave me alone, dumbass.”_ Instead, it was a message from his wife.

LAURA: _How long are you staying?_

He checked the time. It was nearly three AM.

RE: LAURA: _Some serious avengers business has come up. I'll call you tomorrow._

LAURA: _Okay. Be safe._

“You said there was an imprint of Pietro in Wanda,” Steve said, turning to Vision. “Is that enough to bring him back if Helen can repair him?”

Vision opened his mouth to speak, but Wanda cut him off. “No.”

They all looked at her questioningly.

“I know my brother,” she said. “I know his mind, how it feels. This is-”

Her gaze went blank for a moment, as if she was staring at something none of them could see.

“Hollow,” she finished. “It's like a loop.”

“So its not all of him?” Sam said.

She shook her head. “Not enough.”

“Then where's the rest of him?” Rhodey said, leaning back.

“Hel,” Thor said gravely. “That's why he's in there, because his full soul has not been released.” He looked up at Wanda. “We will have to venture there ourselves to retrieve him.”

She nodded. “I will go.”

“Is it dangerous?” Clint said, watching Wanda with anxious protectiveness.

“It may be,” Thor said honestly.

“Then I'm coming too.” Wanda opened her mouth to argue, but Clint shook his head. “No buts, kid.”

“If I may, I would also like to accompany you,” Vision said softly. “I wish to help. This seems to be the best way to do so.”

Thor nodded. “I would be honored by both of your company.”

“Helen says we're a go,” Tony said, sliding his phone back into his pocket as he walked back into the kitchen. “Also, she regrets ever meeting any of us.” He sat back down. “What's happening?”

“We're going to hell,” Clint deadpanned. Tony raised an eyebrow and looked around for confirmation.

“Well, I'm not,” he said. “I'm retired, remember?”

Everyone rolled their eyes.

“I'd like to sit this one out too,” Rhodey said. “All this magic stuff, it's not really my forte. I'm more of a mechanics guy. Besides, somebody has to get the body to Helen.”

“I'll do it,” Steve offered, his shoulders squared. Rhodey shook his head.

“You and Romanoff stay here,” he said. “We need someone coordinating us, and that's your job. Sam and I can do it. Tony, you come too, Helen knows you best.”

Tony and Steve both nodded.

“Wait,” Clint said. “Is this happening now?”

They looked at each other.

“Might as well,” Sam said.

“I believe speed is of the essence,” Thor said.

Clint sighed heavily. “Great. Laura's gonna kill me.”

 

“You're doing what?” Laura said, voice crackling slightly over the phone. Clint sighed.

“I'm traveling to Asgard to try and rescue Pietro's soul from Hel.”

“You can do that?”

“Apparently,” Clint said, clicking his arrows into his quiver.

She laughed softly. “Promise me this isn't some elaborate excuse to get out of packing.”

“Why, Mrs Barton, I'm offended,” Clint said with mock-indigence.

“Right,” she drawled. Then, more seriously: “How long will you be gone?”

“I don't know,” he said. “But I have to go. You know that.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Okay. Be safe.”

“I always am,” he said. “I love you. Kiss the kids for me.”

“I love you too.” She hung up. Clint sat for a few moments longer, turning over the phone in his hand.

“Okay,” he called. “Is Asgard exclusively a black-tie kinda joint? Cause I don't want to cause a stink by wearing jeans. Or Kevlar. Should I wear armor instead?”

Thor poked his head around the door. “What are you gibbering about know, archer?”

“I'm just saying,” he said. “You tend to rock the courtly rainments and all that. Will we be held to the same standard?”

“We will provide for you,” Thor said.

Clint looked around, nodding. “Then I guess I'm ready.”

“Excellent,” Thor said, clapping him on the back and nearly knocking him over.

Clint steadied himself and followed the demi-god out of the armory. Natasha met him outside.

“You all packed?” she said. He nodded. “Did you remember underwear? A toothbrush?”

“Stop smothering me,” he whined. She slapped him lightly on the back of the head.

“Be careful, okay?” she said. “This is personal for you. That makes it risky.”

“Everything's personal for us, these days,” he said. “Remember the good old days of carefree assassinhood?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You were never carefree, Barton. You always got attached. You were a liability.”

He scoffed. “Please.”

She glared at him. “Need I remind you how you met your wife?”

“You weren't there,” he said. “You can't judge.”

“Or when you met me?” she said. “You tend to let your professionalism go when there's a pretty girl involved.”

“I resent the implication that a pretty boy would not likewise divert my attention.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Fine. You get distracted easily.”

“Are you trying to say that's what I'm doing now?” he asked quietly. “Getting distracted?”

“Yes,” Natasha said, “but that might be a good thing.” She sighed heavily. “Bring them all home, okay?”

He pulled her into his arms. “I love you.”

“I know,” she said, slightly muffled, into his chest. “Let's go.”

The rest of the Avengers were assembled in the yard. Clint stopped next to Wanda and Vision.

“You all set?” he said to her. She nodded, looking worried. Clint clasped her shoulder reassuringly. “We're going to be fine,” he said.

“That's not what I'm worried about,” she said softly.

“Yeah, well, your brother will be fine too,” Clint said. “He's a tough little son of a bitch.”

Thor stepped out away from Tony and Steve, where the three had been consulting, heads bowed. “Are we all prepared?” he rumbled.

Clint nodded and headed over, throwing his bag over his shoulder. “This better be good,” he said grouchily. He looked up at Natasha and winked.

“Good luck,” Steve said solemnly. He looked impossibly sad and guilty. Clint's gut twisted with sympathy for him. He knew how heavily his team's safety weighed on Steve. Staying home, while probably for the best, was going to be torture for him.

Just as he was about to say something to Steve, Wanda suddenly ran back towards the Captain and threw her arms around his neck. He looked surprised for a moment, then relaxed and hugged her back, whispering something in her ear. She nodded and stepped back.

“Be safe,” Steve said forcefully as she ran back over to Clint, Vision, and Thor. He locked eyes with Clint, and Clint nodded at him, understanding passing between them.

Thor reached down to clasp Clint's hand. “Don't drop me,” Clint said. Thor rolled his eyes.

Clint joined hands with Wanda, who reached out to Vision. Thor raised his hammer high.

“Heimdall,” he cried. “Now.”

There was a great roaring noise, and a great jet of light, and then they were gone.

 

* * *

 

Clint landed with a crash, off-balance and tumbling over into a roll, his hands torn from Thor and Wanda's by his own weight.

“Welcome, archer,” a voice above him said, and Clint pulled himself up to his knees to see a tall, dark-skinned man looking down at him, his hands firmly planted on the hilt of his sword.

“Hi,” he said, looking around for Thor, Wanda, and Vision. They stood not far from where Clint had landed, looking excited, awestruck, and serene respectively.

“That rainbow-bridge thingy?” he said tiredly to Thor. “It's cool, but all things considered I think I would have preferred a train or something.”

Thor stepped forward, shaking his head, and clasped the man with the sword's arm. “Ignore him,” Thor said. “His mouth is not quite attached to his brain.”

Clint picked himself up, flipping Thor off as he did. “I'm guessing you're Heimdall?” he said, offering his hand. The man's grip was firm and steady, more controlled than Thor's, but Clint could sense the same strength behind it. “I'm Clint, that's Wanda, that's Vision.”

“You know why we are here?” Thor asked Heimdall quietly.

“Yes,” Heimdall said, somewhat reluctantly.

“And?”

“And I am with you. However-”

“ _Thor Odinson!_ ”

A dark-haired woman in shining armor was bearing down hard on them, her black hair swinging in a long ponytail behind her head. Thor glared at Heimdall.

“You told her?” he hissed. Heimdall shrugged.

“She is my sister,” he said apologetically.

“You owe me for this,” Thor muttered. Heimdall nodded. Thor turned to face the woman, a bright, false smile fixed upon his face.

“Sif!” he called. “Excellent. Friends, this is the Lady Sif, one of the best warriors in all nine realms. Barton, I believe you met her in New Mexico, no? Sif, this is Barton, Wanda, and the Vision-”

“I cannot believe your arrogance!” Sif snapped. “You may play god among the mortals, but there are some things that are beyond even-”

“Sif!” Thor cut her off. “I had hoped that we could make my guests welcome?”

She glared at him. “Your father is preparing a feast,” she said stiffly. She looked over at Clint, Vision, and Wanda, who were all staring at her, and bowed jerkily to them. “Welcome to Asgard. I can lead you to the palace.”

“That would be most appreciated,” Thor said.

She huffed slightly and began to storm back towards the city. Thor smiled apologetically towards his teammates and followed her.

“Where are the Warriors?” he asked Sif as he caught up with her.

“Out,” she said, pointedly refusing to look at him. “And you're lucky they are. You cannot be serious-”

“We can discuss this later,” he murmured.

“Fine,” she said irritatedly. “But we will discuss it.”

He nodded, looked back to the rest. Clint was standing on the bridge, trying to take a selfie with the golden city in the background.

“Hey Thor, get in here,” he called. “Gotta bring back some souvenirs for the trip. We can hang it on the fridge.”

Thor sighed. “You know, he's one of the smarter ones I've encountered on Midgard.”

Sif laughed softly. “You have terrible taste in companions, Odinson.”

He grinned, knowing then that he would be forgiven, and bumped his shoulder lightly against hers. “Oh, I wouldn't go that far.”

 

* * *

 

“Keep me updated,” Steve said anxiously, leaning down to talk to Sam and Rhodey through the window of the car.

“Don't worry. I'll text you,” Sam said, pushing up to kiss Steve through the window. In the backseat, Tony made a retching noise.

“Love you too, Stark,” Steve said with a chuckle. He patted the roof of the car. “Good luck. Tell Helen I say hello.”

Rhodey nodded and put the car into gear, waving goodbye to Steve and Natasha, who stood a little behind him on the grass.

There was silence for a few seconds as the car pulled down the long wooded driveway.

“Why am I in the backseat?” Tony said finally. Sam and Rhodey both sighed.

“Because you're not a real avenger,” Rhodey said.

“Not a real avenger, my ass,” Tony muttered. “I'm the original avenger, pal.”

“Weren't you never officially asked to join the initiative, though?” Sam said. “I read Nat's file. It was pretty definitive.”

“Romanoff is a liar and she cheats at cards,” Tony said. “Don't trust her.”

He let another few moments drift by in silence before he piped up again. “So do we have to dig the casket out ourselves, or is someone going to do this for us? Is there a proper grave-digging procedure?”

“I don't know, Tony,” Rhodey said, turning onto the highway.

“I was just going to flash my Avengers' badge and see what happened,” Sam said. “Wait. If you're an avenger, can you still be arrested? Or is it like one of those cop reward cards?”

“I can definitively say that being an avenger has never gotten me out of being arrested,” Tony said. “It doesn't even get me out of tickets.”

“That's because you're an asshole who doesn't react well to authority figures, Tony,” Rhodey said. “As I recall, last time you got pulled over for speeding you rolled down the window and said, and I quote, “fuck you, I'm Tony Stark.””

Sam was laughing in the passenger seat. Tony rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said. “It's true. I can afford a speeding ticket or two.”

“It's the wrath of Pepper you have to be wary of,” Rhodey said. Tony winced.

“Yeah, about that. Let's not tell her that story, okay? Like, ever?”

Rhodey smiled at Tony in the rearview mirror. He knew him well enough to sense the turmoil behind his reflective sunglasses, the worry he must be feeling. But he also knew him well enough to know when Tony was deflecting to protect himself.

“What about our vacation to the Caribbean? Can I tell her about that?” he said.

Tony's jaw dropped. “I thought we swore an oath never to mention that. An oath, Rhodey. A sacred oath.”

Rhodey just kept driving, Tony's indignant explanation of the ill fated vacation floating out the window behind them.

 

* * *

 

Steve was pacing back and forth in front of the window. Natasha watched him quietly from over the top of the file she was reading.

“Steve?” she said finally. “You're denting the floor.”

He looked up at her, blue eyes wide and anxious.

“You wanna talk about it?” Nat said.

Steve sighed. “Half my team is going to the Asgardian world of the dead,” he said, “and I got no ways of keeping in touch with them.”

“Thor and Clint are with them,” she said placatingly. “If anybody's going to bring them back, it would be them.”

“I know,” he said. “I just- I feel like I should be going too.”

Nat shook her head. “Rhodey was right. We need to stay here.” _Away from any more guilt than you're already feeling._

“I just can't wrap my head around it,” he said, dropping into the chair next to her. She threw the file onto the table and climbed onto the arm of Steve's chair, running long thin fingers through his hair. “It seems like every day some new impossible thing happens, and I just can't keep up.” He looked up at her. “And I feel like we just keep losing people, every time we try something big. Them being out of touch – it makes me nervous.”

She looked over at the picture on the mantle, from the party the night Ultron had first attacked. The original six stood with their arms thrown over each other's shoulders, Clint's head buried in Natasha's shoulder, Steve and Thor clinking glasses and grinning. Tony's mouth was half open, as if he was speaking, probably lecturing them all on some ridiculous theory. And Bruce – Bruce was grinning at Natasha, face open and happy and relaxed.

It was a rather different picture than the look of betrayal and fear she'd seen the last time he'd looked at her.

“Sorry,” Steve said softly. “Didn't mean to rub salt in your wounds.”

She shrugged, looked down at him and smiled hollowly. “It's fine,” she said.

“Natasha?” he said. “What happened? You never told us – you haven't said anything about it. Since he left.”

“I made a choice,” she said. “He wanted me to go with him. I pushed him down a cliff.”

“You did what?”

“I needed the other guy's help.”

“Nat, you know that's not your call.”

“It needed to be done,” she said harshly. “The city was flying, I had no way up, and from everything I'd seen down there, we were severely outgunned. It was a code green. You know it.”

“None of us would have blamed you for walking away,” Steve said quietly. “You know that, right?”

“I would have,” she said firmly. “I made a choice and it was the right one.” She broke off for a second, eyes locked on the photo. “Doesn't make it any less hard.”

Steve leaned his head against her knee. “Thanks for telling me,” he said. She bent over him, kissed his forehead.

“You know what will really distract us?” she said. “Let's go kick the crap out of each other in the training room.”

Steve nodded fervently. “Sounds good to me.”

They pushed each other up from the chairs and headed out, leaving the picture of the Avengers alone on the mantlepiece to stand guard over an empty room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who's read this - its so great to get such positive feedback! I'm super excited for where this story's heading, and hopefully you are too!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony is good for some things, Thor teaches Asgardians to twerk, and Clint is scarred for life.

“We will stay in Asgard tonight,” Thor said. “I need to consult with my father briefly. There will be a feast to welcome you later.”

“Wow, we rank a feast?” Clint said.

“All of Asgard has heard of your exploits,” Thor said. “And it doesn't take much to 'rank' a feast. Sif, would you show the Lady Wanda to her chambers? I will lead Barton and the Vision myself.”

The dark-haired woman nodded curtly and began to usher Wanda down the hall. With a final backwards glance at Clint and Vision, she allowed herself to be guided away.

They walked down the hallway in silence. Wanda could feel Sif's mind churning beside her and she reached out, cautiously. She caught anger, with fear beating hard just beneath it, and under it all a deep sense of love and-

“Stop.”

Wanda jerked back, thrown into her own mind with a stunning force. The lady Sif stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at her. “My mind is my own,” she said sternly. “Stay out of it.”

“I can't control it,” she gasped.

“Learn to.” Sif took a calming breath. “I apologize for my harshness. I have grown somewhat skittish of magics lately.”

“I thought all Asgardians knew magics.”

“We've all seen it.” Her eyes went cold for a moment, and even without reaching Wanda could see the face of the dark-haired boy from Thor's memories. “Some closer than others.” She paused again, and then smiled, the first open and kind smile Wanda had seen from her.

“I am being a terrible host,” she said. “Welcome to Asgard. I only wish you had come under happier circumstances.”

Wanda nodded. “Me too.”

“I'll take you to your room,” Sif said. “It's not as grand as it might have been. We had to make some – renovations.”

“Stark complains about the same thing,” Wanda said dryly.

“They have similar causes, from what Thor tells me.” Sif smiled. “Thor speaks of all of you often. He said you have the spirit of a true warrior.”

“That was kind of him,” Wanda said perfunctorily, familiar twist of guilt worming around her insides. Kind. They were all kind, so kind, despite everything she'd done, and how did she repay them?

“You certainly have a warrior's tongue,” Sif said wryly. “Would you be more comfortable speaking in your native language?”

“You speak Romanian?” she said in surprise.

“I speak everything,” Sif said flawlessly in Wanda's native tongue.

Cautiously, Wanda extended her hand. “Wanda Maximoff.”

Sif beamed and clasped the extended hand firmly. “I am pleased to meet you, Wanda. Come. I will show you to your chambers.”

 

* * *

 

“You want to do what?”

Rhodey sighed heavily. “We need it, trust us.”

Behind the counter, the little old man stared up at him from behind thick round glasses incredulously. “No! Absolutely not. It's a sacrilege.”

“Come on,” Sam said. “There has to be some sort of legal precedent. It's for the Avengers.”

“And you have no legal authority!” the old man squeaked. “This is absurd.”

From behind Rhodey and Sam, Tony coughed significantly. The other two parted to let him step forward. “Listen,” Tony said. “We don't really have time to do this the legal way, whatever that is. So here's what I'm going to do. I am going to write you a check for-” He looked the man up and down skeptically. “Ten thousand dollars,” he said finally, scrawling it out on the check and signing with a flourish. “And you are going to let us go dig up that dead boy's body.”

He tore the check out with an elaborate flick of the wrist. Rhodey rolled his eyes. Tony tipped down his sunglasses to look the man dead in the eye, who squeaked again, less coherently. Tremblingly, the old man reached out for the check.

“I hope you brought your own shovels,” he said finally. Tony turned on his heel and strode out of the office. Sam and Rhodey followed him.

“I knew we brought you along for something,” Sam said with a grin. “Now grab a shovel. Let's get this done.”

 

* * *

 

The hall was dim and hushed, the kind of silence that seemed to be waiting anxiously for a sound to scatter. At the end of the hall, the Allfather sat slightly hunched, gazing pensively at the floor.

The sound of footsteps bounced brightly off the walls. Thor Odinson was striding down the hall, the dim light of the room clinging to his golden hair and red cape.

“Thor,” the Allfather rumbled.

He knelt at the foot of the throne. “Father.”

“What is it that you want?”

“I don't-”

“Don't bother flattery, son. What do you want?”

Thor set his jaw irritatedly. “Information.”

“To retrieve your witch's brother?”

“Did Heimdall tell everyone?” Thor snapped exasperatedly. Odin raised his eyebrows.

“You would keep your plans from your father?”

“Is it possible?” Thor said quickly, ignoring Odin's jab.

Odin shifted uncomfortably. “Of course it is possible. But it takes a great power.”

“We have it,” Thor said.

“The girl is weak and untrained.”

“The girl is an avenger,” Thor said. “She can do it.”

“Avenger,” Odin sneered coldly. “You risk your very soul for another of your precious mortal pets?”

“Please, not this again, father,” Thor muttered. “They are not pets. They are friends.”

“You have grown soft, my son,” Odin rumbled. Thor huffed angrily.

“Must we have this conversation every time I return?” he snapped. “You sent me down there, you laid me barren on Midgard, and now you resent the seeds I have sown there?” He swung up his hammer. “I still carry Mjolnir, Father. Do you disagree with its judgment?” He flipped the hammer in midair, catching it so that its handle pointed towards Odin. “Would you like it back?”

Silence rushed back into the hall. Odin stared down the handle with his one good eye, looking strangely calculating. Finally, he looked up at his son with a cold, curved smile that sent shivers down Thor's spine.

“Father?” he said.

“I can deliver you to Hel's realm,” Odin said, “and Heimdall can pull you out. Beyond that, I cannot guarantee.”

Thor relaxed, lowering the hammer to his side once more. “Thank you.”

“Beware, Odinson,” Odin rumbled gravely. “You are dealing with dark and powerful forces.”

Thor shrugged. “I have faith in my team.”

Odin nodded.

“Will you be attending the feast?” Thor asked, stepping back to leave.

“I think not,” Odin said stiffly.

“They tell me you have not been attending as many events as you used to,” Thor said.

“I am old,” Odin said gruffly, “and I am often weary.”

Thor nodded. “Thank you, father,” he said again. His cape swirled behind him and he was gone, too soon to see the faint golden gleam on the throne behind him.

 

“Wanda!” Clint called, banging on the door to her room. “Come on, kid, we haven't got all night.”

He was just about to start knocking again when the door opened. Wanda and Sif stepped out, both clad in elaborate Asgardian evening wear. Sif wore a stunning dress of blue and silver, a knife clasped to her thigh where it could easily be seen through the slit in her dress.

“Close your mouth, archer, you'll catch flies,” she said coolly. Clint snapped his mouth shut.

Wanda stepped out behind her. Her dress was more modest, a deep, ruddy color with a golden collar. Her dark hair was braided simply and fell over her bare shoulders. She looked almost shy.

Clint felt a sudden rush of sadness for how young she was. Here she was, barely in her twenties, and already carrying more ghosts than most did in their fifties. She had missed so much – she and her brother. No family, a life of boarding schools and orphanages – she'd never had a graduation, or a first day of college, or a prom. With an equally painful tug he found himself missing his daughter, her tiny face absorbed in a drawing at the kitchen table, and he vowed for the hundredth time that she would never have the childhood it was too late to save Wanda from.

“You look beautiful,” he said, a little gruffly. “Now come on, I'm hungry.”

“Are you wearing a cape?” Wanda said.

Clint rolled his eyes and stomped off down the hallway, leaving Wanda and Vision alone outside her door.

“He is quite correct,” Vision said, a little hesitantly. “You do look – quite beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “You look very handsome.”

He smiled, a little bashfully, and offered her his arm. She took it, their bodies brushing together and sending a jolt of electricity down Wanda's spine. They walked down the hall towards the feast.

“Did you enjoy your time with the Lady Sif?” he said. Wanda nodded.

“She was kind.”

Vision smiled. “Good.”

They entered a giant dance hall, with great arching golden pillars and smooth white stone floors. Tables lined the sides of the hall, laden with meats and fruits and pastries. In the center, Asgardians whirled and stepped to a band playing on the raised platform toward the end of the hall.

“Friends!” Thor unmistakable boom echoed through the hall. He appeared at Vision's side and handed each of them a tankard filled with foaming liquid. “Eat. Drink. This is all for you.”

Clint appeared next to them and plucked the tankard from Wanda's hand.

“You don't want this,” he said, taking a deep sip. “Worst hangover you've ever had. Doesn't exactly keep you in fighting trim.”

“Then why are you drinking it?” she said with a skeptical glare.

“Fighting with a hangover's kinda my superpower,” Clint said.

Wanda rolled her eyes.

“Uh-oh,” Clint said. “Thor's teaching the Asgardians how to twerk.” He pushed off again into the crowd.

“That is a very strange man,” Vision said calmly.

“You're all strange,” Wanda said.

“I suppose that's true.” He guided her over to one of the buffets. “Would you like something to eat?”

The hall was loud. Wanda could hear everything, could sense the very vibrations in the stone as she loaded up her plate. She caught herself at the end of the table grabbing napkins to wrap the food up and stopped herself. After so many years not knowing where her next meal would come from, Wanda had developed a tendency to hoard food, taking a lot and eating a little, tucking pieces into her pockets and purses.

Pietro had been the opposite, shoveling more food into his emaciated stomach than had seemed humanly possible, even before Strucker.

Out on the dance floor, the Asgardians had paired up. They were dancing something that seemed to be a strange combination of the waltz and polka. Thor and Sif were spinning around, breathless with laughter, their hair falling into their faces.

“Would you like to dance?”

Wanda looked up, startled. Vision was standing over her, one hand extended.

“I don't know how,” she said. Vision shrugged.

“Neither do I,” he said, “but I'm sure we can learn.”

She hesitated a moment longer before placing her hand in his. The rapidly-becoming-familiar tingle danced its way down her arm.

He swept her out onto the dance floor, hand landing lightly on her hip. “Do you have any idea what you're doing?” she hissed anxiously. He smiled.

“No,” he said, spinning her out and back in. “Just be spontaneous.”

She grinned despite herself, letting him lead her deeper onto the floor. They whirled and twirled, her dress flaring out around her ankles, his cape flying out behind him. For the first time since she'd entered the hall, the droning babble of other people's thoughts hushed, her mind clear of everything but the music and Vision, smiling down at her.

The song ended, too soon, and the dancers stilled and applauded the band. Next to Sif, Thor caught Wanda's eye and winked. She blushed and dropped her gaze.

Vision lead her off the dance floor again, helping her into a seat. “Can I get you anything?”

“Water,” she said, “please.”

He nodded, pressing her hand gently before he left.

She leaned back against the wall, trying to catch her breath, slow her pounding heart. She let her gaze drift around the room.

_Odinson,_ she heard. And then, louder, she felt the heat of the woman next to her, a deep desire from somewhere further off, a pounding heart.

_Food,_ she heard. _They have not mine how dare-_

There were too many voices to distinguish.

_You heard she lies who would what now how-_

There were too many voices, she couldn't think. She felt their minds pressing into hers.

_Some what can be true so much how what lovenowcan'tperhapswhensohowwemuchtobehe pleasecan'tdancelaughwho_

“Wanda!”

She was dimly aware of figures looming over her, hands on her face. She couldn't focus.

_Howwhatgirlavengerwrongwithhercan'tseewherecrazywhywrongsheThorsuspectnothingbut_

_GET OUT._

Green light burst over her consciousness. Wanda was thrust back into her own mind with more power than she'd ever felt, and she gasped, aware of herself once more. She began to hyperventilate. Her throat felt caught, clammed up tight. She couldn't get air into her lungs.

“Wanda?”

Strong arms clasped her around the waist and she was lifted up gently. She felt herself moving through the air that she could not breathe, out into cool darkness she recognized dimly as the hall to her room. The doors opened and closed, and in the quiet stillness her throat released and she pulled air into her grateful lungs.

After a few breaths she looked up to see Vision and Clint standing worriedly over her.

“You alright?” Clint said.

For a second she was remembering a different man standing over her, and she wanted more than anything her brother's hands gently stroking her hair, holding her hands steady to keep them from shaking.

“I'm fine,” she rasped, attempting to swallow. “I need- water.”

Clint nodded. “I'll get it.” He gently squeezed her hand before he rose, bounding out of the room. She heard Thor's concerned rumble outside before the door shut.

Vision remained, green eyes trained on her face.

“Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” she snapped.

“You don't seem fine,” he said, a deep sadness in his tone. She glared at him.

“Why do you do this?” she rasped. “Why are you so kind to me? What do you want?”

“I don't want anything-” he began, startled, but she cut him off.

“Bullshit,” she said. “Everyone wants something.” She jumped off the bed and stared, searching, into his face.

“I suppose – I just want – for you to be happy,” he said quietly, catching her hands and bringing them close to his chest.

“Really?” she said, and there was such a terrible combination of fear and hope in her eyes that he could not resist.

“Yes,” he said, and he kissed her.

It was like two particles colliding. The whole world seemed to shiver as his hands anchored themselves on her waist, as she stretched up to cup the back of his neck, the sides of his face. Their whole bodies sparked with the touch, pressing closer and closer as if to absorb each other.

“Oh, for god's sake!”

They jumped apart, startled.

Clint stood with one hand over his eyes, holding out a glass of water with the other.

“Christ, the sock on the door is a time honored tradition,” he snapped. “I- Just- I'm gonna leave the water and go, okay?”

He stumbled forward blindly a few steps before Vision took pity on him and took the water from his waving hand.

“I'm leaving,” Clint said definitively, “and I want us all to pretend this never happened.”

“The door is behind you,” Wanda said dryly. Clint cracked open one eye to find his way out of the room. Wanda was rather proud of herself for waiting for the door to slam to burst out laughing.

 

“Why are you still laughing?” Clint practically screamed at Thor, who seemed barely able to support himself, he was laughing so hard. “I need Nat.”

Thor wiped tears from his eyes.

“Calm yourself, archer. This is a good thing.”

“I know that,” Clint said. “But- I was supposed to have a good five years before I had to deal with anything like this! Five years! And now all of a sudden I have to figure out how to give a safe-robot-sex talk.”

Thor began to laugh again and Clint heaved a sigh. “Fine. Whatever. I'm happy they're happy, and all that.” He whimpered slightly. “I need Natasha. Natasha would know what to do.”

“Natasha would be laughing at you as well, my friend.”

“Yes, but she'd actually be helpful after,” Clint snapped. “God. I'm going to go drink until the braincells holding that memory die.”

He stormed off, leaving Thor leaning hard against the wall to keep from falling over with laughter.

 

* * *

 

The last credits of the movie had ended a long time ago. Steve sat in the dim blue light of the TV screen, pencil scratching over his sketchpad. He glanced up every now and then at Natasha, sleeping catlike on the couch. A few strands of red hair hung in her face and he brushed them aside gently.

A wave of affection and gratitude swept over him. He remembered the stunning redhead he'd first met on the helicarrier, cold, cool, and collected. He could hardly recognize the woman sleeping on the couch in front of him now. Somewhere along the line she'd gone from being an operative to a hero – and a friend.

“Steve?” Maria Hill's voice crackled over the intercom. “Were you expecting anyone?”

The sketchpad lay forgotten on the coffee table. “Not that I was aware of.”

“You better get up here then.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the fabulous feedback! If this chapter was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write, be sure to let me know in comments!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no sexting on the quinjet, and the prodigal son receives a less-than-warm welcome.

“This is the grossest thing I've ever done.”

Rhodey wiped the sweat off his forehead. “No, this is the grossest thing Sam and I have ever done while you stand by and complain.”

“I have a very weak stomach,” Tony said.

“Weak arms, more like,” Rhodey muttered, tossing another shovelful of dirt out of the grave.

“Are you sassing me? Don't I outrank you?”

“Get in the hole and dig, Tony.”

Tony glared but picked up the shovel. “So do we take him out of the coffin?”

“I don't think so,” Sam said. “The body's too fragile.”

“Gross,” Tony said. “Just gross.”

“Did you get a hold of Helen?” Rhodey asked Sam, who nodded.

“She said there's a landing pad for the quinjet all set. I told her we'd be there late tonight.” His shovel scraped along and he knelt to dust off the top of the coffin. “She still seems pretty skeptical of the whole thing.”

“Understandable,” Rhodey said, beginning to dig around the edges. “Hell, I'm not sure I believe it. But, hey, if it works-”

“Yeah,” Tony said, looking around the graveyard still lit by the last rays of the sun. “If.”

 

* * *

 

“Tell me what we've got,” Steve called, pushing into the complex's security center. Maria Hill spun around in her chair from the monitor display.

“We haven't gotten a clear shot of his face yet,” she said. “Friday's running everything she's got. He should be passing another camera in a few seconds. Hopefully we'll see him then-”

“Agent Hill,” Friday lilted. “Facial match detected.”

Steve and Maria crowded around the monitor.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Steve growled.

 

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Bruce Banner turned jerkily, wringing his hands nervously. “Oh, good,” he said, voice layers of anxiety and exhaustion. “You are here.”

Steve glared at him. “How did you find us, Banner?”

He shrugged miserably. “I went to the tower first. Pepper wouldn't let me in.”

“Can you blame her?”

Bruce shook his head. “She said you were here, though. So I took a bus to as close as I could get, which turned out to be not very.”

“Yeah, well, we don't usually put secret bases on public transportation lines.”

“I figured.” Bruce looked around. “I have to admit, I was kind of expecting something to try and shoot me.”

“I haven't ruled it out yet,” Steve said through gritted teeth.

“I guess that's your right. Where is everyone?”

“They're out,” Steve said.

“All of them?”

“Most.” Steve shook his head. “Where have you been?”

“The Falklands?” Bruce said. “I caught a boat. Started moving up through South America. Spent some time in Haiti.” He sighed heavily. “Steve? I've been walking for hours. If you're gonna be mad at me, can we do it sitting down?”

“You couldn't call?” Steve said. “You couldn't let us know if you were even alive?”

“If I'd called you, you would have made me come back,” Bruce said tiredly. “And I just – I couldn't.”

“But now you can?”

Bruce didn't say anything.

“How could you?” Steve snapped, last shred of icy decorum ripping apart. “You just up and leave us like that? Crash your plane into the middle of the ocean – real original, by the way – and disappear?”

“I know what I did wasn't right-”

“You're damn right it wasn't. I mean, I thought we were becoming more than just a team, Bruce. Did that mean nothing to you?”

“Steve-”

“You know what, fuck it. I don't care why you left anymore. We all sat around wringing our hands for long enough. The only thing I want to know is why you're back,” Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Bruce looked up, meeting Steve's eyes steadily for the first time. “I came home,” he said, “because I missed you.”

For a moment, Bruce just held his breath. Nothing changed in Steve's posture. His face was still icy. But somewhere deep inside the clear blue eyes something relaxed, and he nodded his head and lead Bruce inside.

“We're all good here, Maria,” he said, hand to his ear. “You can head out.”

They walked stiffly down the dark chrome hallways. Bruce could see Tony's hand in the design, the practicality of it beneath the flash. “You can sleep here,” Steve said, pushing open the door to reveal a plain guest room. Bruce bit back a whimper at the sight of the bed. “Kitchen's straight down the hall. Friday'll help if you need anything.”

Bruce nodded, gently lowering himself onto the mattress. His feet instantly began to drone with pain, and he closed his eyes for a moment as the aches of the day began to sink in.

“Steve?” he said, cracking his eyes open to look at the other man, silhouetted in the doorway. “I am sorry.”

Steve nodded. “It's not quite enough yet,” he said, “but I appreciate it, Bruce.”

He closed the door. The room fell into darkness, and Bruce Banner fell into sleep.

 

* * *

 

STEVE: _Don't tell Tony_

STEVE: _It'll just freak him out_.

From where he sat in between the wall and the coffin, Sam Wilson sighed and questioned for what felt like the hundredth time that night what he was doing with his life.

RE:STEVE: _You know, you're awful lucky you're cute, Rodgers._

RE:STEVE: _How's Nat?_

STEVE: _She doesn't know either._

RE:STEVE: _What_

STEVE: _She's asleep. I'll tell her first thing tomorrow._

RE:STEVE: _If she murders you, I'm not going to be responsible for avenging you_

STEVE: _You're such a supportive boyfriend._

Sam chuckled softly.

“No sexting on my quinjet, Wilson,” Tony called.

“Just try and stop me,” Sam called back lightly.

RE:STEVE: _Just remember that next time you decide to take a leap without a parachute._

STEVE: _Parachutes just slow you down._

RE:STEVE: _That is literally the point of a parachute._

RE:STEVE: _That is why they exist._

RE:STEVE: _Their whole raison-d'etre is to slow you down to keep you from becoming a squashed capsicle._

STEVE: _Ha ha._ _So where are you now?_

RE:STEVE: _Flying over Korea. I'll keep you posted._

STEVE: _Okay._

RE:STEVE: _Get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow._

Sam stood, stretching out the aches in his legs, and walked forward to the cockpit where Tony and Rhodey sat.

“So what's Cap say?” Tony asked, not taking his eyes off the window. Sam shrugged.

“Just checking in.”

Tony nodded. “We're landing in a few minutes.”

Sam settled himself into the seat behind Tony. He looked back at the coffin planted solidly in the center of the quinjet, clumps of dirt still clinging to it.

“How long will it take to repair a body like that?”

Tony shrugged. “It's not really my area. But judging by the amount of tissue she's going to have to recreate? I'd say about a day, maybe more.” He pushed a few buttons. “Beginning descent.”

“This is the quinjet, radioing in to Seoul air control,” Rhodey said into the microphone. “We are beginning our descent now.”

“Rodger that,” a voice crackled back over the line. “Clear to descend.”

The sparkling lights of the city grew closer and more distinct as they headed towards the ground, Tony and Rhodey guiding them steadily towards the private helicopter pad Helen had secured for them. They saw her waving from the door as they touched down.

“We're here,” Tony said, turning off the engines.

“Really,” Rhodey drawled, stretching in his seat before standing up. Tony opened the doors as Rhodey began to unstrap the coffin.

“Where are those floaty things you were using?” he called up to the cockpit.

“They're still attached. I have the remote,” Tony called back. He pulled it a square box and pressed a few buttons on it. The bottom of the coffin lit up as mini repulsors lifted it into the air.

“Pretty nifty, huh?” he said to Sam with a contagious grin. Sam shook his head and ducked out of the jet.

“Helen,” he called, extending a hand to the scientist. “Thanks again for helping us with this.”

She shrugged. “If this works I could be in line for a Nobel prize. I'm not passing it up.”

“Still,” he said. “We appreciate it.”

She raised her eyebrows at the sight of the coffin floating out of the quinjet. “You didn't take him out?”

“We were worried the body might be too fragile.”

She nodded. “Probably for the best. Right this way, Tony,” she called. “We'll take it from here.”

 

* * *

 

_“Wanda!”_

_He came running over to her through the smoke. “They're sending in troops.”_

_“I'm not leaving.”_

_“If we don't go now, we'll end up in prison.” He pulled a bottle and a lighter out of his pocket. “I didn't say we should go quietly.”_

_The bottle burst into flames right at the foot of the first soldier. She whooped loudly, throwing the arm he wasn't tugging her out of the square with into the air._

_“You're going to get us both killed,” he growled later, lighting a fire in the trash bin with a scowl._

_“We're taking a stand,” she said, spooning stolen soup into two cans and handing him one._

_“You're not superhuman, Wanda,” he sighed._

_“You're one to talk,” she said, running a gentle hand over the cut above his eye._

_“I'm the oldest -”_

_“By twelve minutes.”_

_“Which makes me twelve minutes wiser than you.”_

_She scoffed._

_He rolled out their ragged flannel blanket and lay back on it, staring up at the sky through the hole in the roof. She pushed him over to lie next to him._

_“We're taking a stand,” she said again. His hand found hers and clasped it tight._

_“Taking a stand,” he agreed._

“Wanda?”

She woke with tears in her eyes.

“It is time,” Thor rumbled softly. “I will meet you in the courtyard.”

She got dressed quickly, dark running tights and red reinforced jacket. She brushed her hair up into a ponytail. Last night's eye makeup was still smudged around her eyes, giving her a haunted, sleepless look.

_Not too far off,_ she thought.

The palace was still and quiet as she made her way down the hall. Sif met her at the end.

“Good luck,” she said. “I will be praying for your success.”

“Who does a god pray to?” Wanda asked.

Sif did not answer her. Instead she placed her hands gently on Wanda's shoulders and kissed the top of her forehead lightly. Wanda felt tears rising to her eyes.

“Thor and the others are outside,” Sif said. “Godspeed.”

Wanda nodded and continued outside. She saw them at once, heads bent in conversation, silhouetted against the rising sun. They turned towards her as she approached.

“You ready to go, kid?” Clint asked.

She nodded. Thor lead them out of the courtyard and towards the sparkling dome where they had arrived.

“Heimdall will open the gates as close as he can,” Thor said. “But we will essentially have to walk until Hel notices us.”

“And how long will that be?” Clint asked.

Thor shrugged. “I don't know.”

They passed over the bridge in tense silence. Clint was fingering the woven bracelet around his wrist, remembering his daughter's tiny fingers tying it on. 

_“Pietro!” she screamed, the wave of blue uniformed bodies closing in on her, pulling her back from the crowd, from her brother. She stumbled blindly, being pushed along by those around her. Someone grabbed her arm._

_“Who are you?” the officer spit in her face. “Where are your parents?”_

_“Pietro!” she screamed again, terror wrapped tight around her chest._

_She heard him before she saw him, calling out her name in answer. The officer dropped her arm to face him and an overripe fruit burst across his faceguard. Pietro grabbed her arm and pulled her down the back alleys, not stopping until he seemed sure they hadn't been followed._

_“Are you alright?” he said._

_She nodded, shaking. “I thought I'd lost you.”_

_He pulled her in close to his chest, running a hand that shook just like hers down her long dark hair. “You could never lose me,” he said. “We'll find each other. We'll always find each other.”_

They filed into the dome in silence, looking to Thor for instructions. He nodded towards one of the great arches and they lined up outside it. 

“All speed, Odinson,” Heimdall rumbled gravely. “And may you find what you're searching for.”

The portal opened, gusting winds through the dome, whipping their hair and clothes. Vision took her hand.

“I'll find you,” she whispered, and jumped. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you thought in comments!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha doesn't pull punches, Clint has issues with Norse, and Laura Barton is the real MVP.

Natasha woke up the next morning on the couch, one of Sam's wool blanket tucked around her. She felt comfortably sleepy. She sat up with a stretch, ran her fingers through her knotted hair. For the first time in a while her head felt clear, her usual hangover surprisingly absent, replaced with the aches of a hard workout from yesterday.

She yawned, tossed off the blanket. Steve's sketchpad lay open on the coffee table to a half-finished picture of her sleeping face. She smiled at the sight of it and managed to push herself off the couch and shuffle towards the kitchen. She could hear something crackling on the stove.

“Is there any news?” she called as she entered the room.

Bruce turned around and she stopped dead.

“Hey,” he said nervously. “I didn't actually know you were here.”

She stared at him.

“Want some breakfast?” he offered weakly.

“Were you kidnapped?” she said suddenly.

“What? No,” he said.

“Did you hit your head? Wake up with a nasty case of amnesia?”

“Natasha-”

“Did you?”

“No.”

She shrugged. “Then nothing you say is going to make this okay.”

“Natasha.”

“What?” she snarled. “What can you possibly have to say to me?”

“I had to leave,” he said. “I need you to trust me that I had to leave.”

Silence hung in the kitchen. Natasha opened her mouth and laughed, a harsh, cold laugh.

“You disappear for three months and  _that's_ what you have to say to me?”

Bruce slammed his palm down on the counter. Natasha didn't even flinch, glaring at him stoically.

“You know what, you don't get to play the victim with me,” he snapped. “We were gonna run. We were gonna do it together.”

“We were gonna leave a city with  _all our friends on it_ to crash into the earth and wipe out all life,” Natasha said. “But no, you're right. I'm sure our romantic get away would have been much improved by the fiery death raining from the sky.”

“You told me you were ready to hang it all up,” he said. “What happened to “I'm not really an avenger”?” 

“I woke up,” she said coldly. “I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I did what had to be done. Because that's what I had to do.”

“So, at Clint's farm, everything you said – all that was just another lie?” he laughed bitterly. “I thought we were past you batting your eyes to get me to do what you want.”

“What I said to you – I said it after Wanda had fucked me over royally, but you know what, fine. I'm sorry if my moment of weakness let you justify your self hatred.”

Bruce recoiled slightly, as though she'd slapped him. “That's all I was to you?” he said, softly. “A moment of weakness?”

She stared at him levelly. “It's starting to look that way.”

She turned towards the door. “You spend so much time complaining about being a monster,” she said quietly, “but when the time came to be a hero, you ran.”

She left the room without looking back.

Steve was standing outside the kitchen, looking distinctly awkward.

“You really don't pull your punches, do you?” he said nervously.

“You think I should have?” she said, walking past him.

Steve followed her, struggling despite his strength to keep up with her. “I was going to warn you.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe more for Bruce's sake than yours.”

“Bruce can take care of himself too.”

“Natasha!” He grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

“Don't worry about it,” she spat. “They'll live.”

She took off again. Steve stared after her.

“Who'll live?” he called. “Natasha!”

 

* * *

 

The lights of the bifrost blinked out suddenly, leaving them alone in the dark. Cold, still air wrapped around them. In the silence, their breath seemed very loud.

“Are we here?” Clint said.

“I believe so,” Vision replied quietly.

They strained their eyes into the darkness.

“We need some light,” Thor said.

There was a rustle of fabric as Wanda raised her arms. “I can do that.”

A red glow began to waft from her fingertips, streams of light rolling off her them into an orb that hung above their heads, lighting their faces with an eerie pallor.

They were standing beside a stream. The dark water made no sound as it rushed past them, churning and frothing. They could see only a few feet on either side of where they stood, huddled together almost unconsciously. All the rest was black. They stood on flat and cracked dirt which kicked up a faint cloud of dust whenever they moved.

“Where are we?” Clint whispered.

“The Valley of Nights,” Thor said. He stared off into the darkness. “We must follow the river downstream.”

They set off walking, Wanda's orb floating a few feet in front of them.

“How do you know which way to go?” Clint asked after a little while.

“According to legend, there is a bridge not far ahead that we must cross,” Thor said.

“How does legend know where we ended up?” Clint said.

“Just trust me, archer,” Thor sighed. “The river Gjoll runs downstream to the Gjoll bridge.”

“The river what?”

“Gjoll, Clint.”

“Why aren't your rivers ever called normal names?” Clint said.

“They're normal in Norse,” Thor said, a little indignantly.

“What does Gjoll mean in Norse?”

“Noisy.”

Clint glared at him. “That makes no sense. The river isn't making any sound.”

“What are you talking about?” Wanda said. “It's driving me crazy.”

The three men stopped to stare at her.

“What?” she said softly.

“You can hear the river?” Thor said.

“Can't you?” she looked around. “Can't all of you?”

They shook their heads. Wanda looked frightened.

“Why not?”

“I would imagine,” Vision said softly, “that is because only the dead can hear it.”

“I'm not dead,” she said.

“No,” he said. “But you are carrying the dead inside of you.”

She swallowed dryly.

“It proves that we are not wrong about your brother's soul,” Vision said swiftly. He took her hand in his. “I swear to you, nothing is going to harm you here.”

She nodded, a wan half-smile still lighting up her face. She stepped forward, tilting her head up towards his-

Clint coughed significantly. “It's still a stupid name.”

“It's not a stupid name,” Thor said, snapping right back to their previous argument.

“Yes, it is.”

“What, and the Hudson makes more sense to you?”

“Hudson is a name.”

“So is Gjoll!”

“Is this really the place to argue linguistics, gentlemen?” Vision interrupted. Clint shrugged and kicked at the dirt in front of him.

“Is it snack time yet?” he asked plaintively.

“Are you like this on SHIELD missions?” Thor snapped exasperatedly.

“Usually,” Clint said cheerfully. “Nat's been known to tranc me.”

“I can't imagine why,” Vision muttered. Wanda laughed quietly and Vision met her eyes with a smile that sent shivers up and down her spine.

“No snacks,” Thor said firmly. Clint pouted.

They walked on. The light did not change, remaining pitch black outside the glow of Wanda's orb.

“I'm starting to see why its called the Valley of Night,” Clint said.

“See? The names make sense,” Thor said. “It's no worse than your 'grand canyon'.”

They walked on. Nothing changed. No one spoke. The silence and darkness was oppressive.

“There's nothing out here,” Wanda said softly.

Vision looked concerned. “What do you mean?”

“I can always feel it,” Wanda said. “Life. It... hums. In the background.” She shrugged. “I can't feel anything here.”

Clint and Thor exchanged worried glances.

“Even the river is just sound,” she said. “It doesn't feel like anything.”

“That is because it is nothing,” a loud voice boomed out of the darkness.

Their reactions were instantaneous – Vision lifted off the ground to hover in the air, Clint drew his bow. Thor spun Mjolnir threateningly as Wanda's eyes lit up red and she threw the orb into the sky, where it suddenly blazed upon the golden roof of a bridge.

“Don't worry,” the giantess said. “I'm nothing too.”

 

* * *

 

Laura Barton had just finished taping up all the boxes for the living room when the doorbell rang. She pushed herself up from the floor, stretching as she walked into the the foyer where Natasha Romanoff was pushing into the house and slamming the door behind her.

“Is everything okay?” Laura asked.

“Please tell me you have vodka,” Natasha snapped. Laura relaxed slightly – vodka was Natasha's _i'm-pissed-about-something_ drink, not her _your-husband's-in-terrible-danger_ drink.

“Of course we have vodka, your birthday's in a month,” Laura said, following Nat into the kitchen. “Top shelf.”

Nat found the bottle and twisted off the top savagely.

“We don't have glasses-” Laura began, but Natasha was already practically chugging the bottle. “Never mind,” she said, sitting at the kitchen table. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No,” Natasha said. “I wanna drink.” She offered Laura the bottle.

“I'm breastfeeding,” Laura said. Natasha wrinkled her nose in disgust and chugged another quarter of the bottle.

“Okay, that's enough,” Laura said, yanking the bottle out of her hand. “What is wrong with you?”

Natasha just glared at her sullenly.

“Is everyone okay?” she said, a slight tremor of fear running through her chest.

“Everyone's fine,” Natasha spat, throwing herself into the seat across from Laura. “They're fucking peachy.”

Laura watched her patiently.

“You're using your mom face on me,” Natasha said. “It's not going to work. I have torture resistance training.”

Laura still said nothing. Natasha sighed deeply.

“Bruce came back.”

Laura gave a low whistle and passed the bottle back to Nat. “And?”

“And nothing.”

“Judging by the amount of booze you just chugged, I hardly believe its nothing.” She shrugged sympathetically. “What did he say?”

“That I had to “trust him” that he “had to leave”,” Natasha drawled bitterly.

“Probably not the best thing to open with.”

She shrugged miserably. “He was fine,” she said, softly. “I know its awful, but I kind of hoped-”

“That some sort of disaster had befallen him and that's why he didn't call?” Laura said with a gentle smile.

“Am I the worst?” Nat asked, looking up at her with sad green eyes.

“Are you kidding me? I wished every day that my high school crush's girlfriend would get hit by a bus,” Laura said. “You're in love.”

Natasha gagged slightly.

“Oh, grow up,” Laura said. “I swear, Lilah has more emotional maturity than you and Clint combined.”

“That's unfair. You know Clint's maturity is in the negatives.”

“Look, Nat-” Laura bit her lip. “He came back. Not everyone does. Maybe give him a chance to explain himself before you write him off completely?”

“I didn't get where I am today by giving second chances,” Natasha snapped.

“No, but you were given a second chance.” Natasha stuck her tongue out. “And that's hardly a fair comparison, Nat,” Laura continued. “I'm fairly certain Bruce isn't going to try to stab you in your sleep.”

“Once. That happened once, and neither of you will let it go!”

“Nat?” Laura said. “Did you talk to him?”

Natasha shrugged, took another slug of the bottle.

“When that finally hits you, I am not going to be the one mopping you up off the floor,” Laura warned.

“It wasn't supposed to be like this,” Nat said softly. “I thought he was going to be – steady. Safe.”

“Oh, hon,” Laura said, taking her hand. “No guy is ever safe.”

Natasha smiled weakly. “How'd you do it? How'd you turn a grade-a fuck up like Clint into what he is now?”

“I did have help,” Laura grinned. “And more importantly? I didn't stop Clint from being a fuck up. I just made him want to. He made me want to. That's all you can really hope for, you know?” She sighed. “I don't know if Bruce is that person for you. But on the off chance he is? I think you should talk to him.”

“I'm glad Clint married you,” Natasha said.

“Yeah, he made a good call on that one,” Laura laughed. She stood up. “The kids'll be home soon. Help me load up the truck before you start seeing double and we'll all drive up to the base for the weekend.”

 

* * *

 

“Next time there might be a _giant_ involved,” Clint yelled, “do us a favor and tell us!”

“I didn't know about this!” Thor yelled back, jumping out of the way of a smashing fist. “I figured it was a legend!”

“That's what we said about you!” Clint shouted, firing an arrow up at the giantess's neck. She plucked it out of the air and snapped it in half. Clint whimpered.

“Aw, arrow, no.”

“I don't see why you're blaming me!” Thor boomed, smashing Mjolnir into the giantess's foot and causing her to stagger dangerously. “She's the one who attacked us!”

“You're the one who said we just had to walk for a little while!”

“I said it would be dangerous!”

“Would you two stop bickering and help?” Wanda snapped, freezing the giantess's hand with a net of red energy. She roared in frustration, yanking the arm back and forth as Wanda worked to maintain the energy, the giant screaming with pain as Vision zapped her with a jet of golden light and Thor launched into her, knocking her off balance. Her foot smashed into the ground only inches away from where Clint stood, and with a sudden roar he could hear the black waters behind him churning away. He threw himself backwards, out of the light, away from the sound, and it faded away to nothing once more.

Wanda threw up her arms suddenly, seemingly for no reason until Vision swept down to scoop her up and dodge the giantess's groping hands to bring her close enough to her face to send a beam of red energy into her eyes with an intricate wave of her fingers. Instantly, the giantess froze, a look of horror on her face. She whimpered softly and fell to her knees.

“Let us pass,” Wanda snarled.

“It is for your sake as well,” the giantess wept. “The world of the dead is never kind to mortals.”

Vision lowered Wanda to the ground. “The world of the living has not been kind to me either,” she said. “Let me pass.”

“I cannot,” the giantess whimpered. Wanda flicked her wrist. A spray of red energy flew into the giantess's face and she began to scream. A red light began to swirl around Wanda, and Clint could feel the energy of it like the tension in the air just before a thunderstorm.

“I am taking back my brother,” Wanda snarled. “With or without your help.”

The giantess writhed as the red light surrounded her, digging into her skin.

“Let. Us. Pass,” Wanda hissed.

The giantess gave a final, choking scream and fell forward. Vision yanked Wanda out of the way, pulling her into the air and out of the cloud of dust. The light of Wanda's powers faded, leaving only the orb still glowing in the sky.

“What the hell?” Clint choked as the dust settled.

“She's alive,” Wanda said grimly as Vision placed her on her feet once more. “Now let's go.”

She turned away from the three men still gathered at the head of the fallen giant and, staggering slightly, walked stoically across the bridge and into the valley of death.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Rhodey Sam & Tony - they'll be back next chapter, but for now they're just standing around watching Helen do a science none of them really understands. Let me know what you think and as always thanks so much for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets coffee, Steve doesn't speak Russian, and Wanda performs another miracle.

Tony Stark was not, despite all evidence to the contrary, an idiot. He knew exactly why he had been banished to the street to get coffee, and it was not, as Rhodey had put it, he kept “poking things.” Nope. Tony was being shielded and he knew it. But he was also old enough to recognize that it was probably a good idea.

He really had to hand it to Rhodey. He was handling the situation masterfully, shifting responsibility for the corpse onto the shoulders of those it would affect the least. Sam and Rhodey were both in the running for the Most Stable and Together Person in the Avengers, and they had never even met the kid. Tony had been allowed to come mostly so Steve wouldn't, which Tony supported one hundred percent – Steve felt personally responsible for strangers on the street, he couldn't handle seeing the rotting body of a twenty-something year old under his command, and Tony knew that Natasha, despite her cool exterior, identified way to much with the twins' story. And now, when Helen had announced that the casket was all set up, he had sent Tony out for coffee because of the aforementioned poking and the fact that apparently, no matter what, Tony would always complain about coffee that he hadn't bought or made himself. Unspoken was the crushing guilt Rhodey knew Tony felt about his own part in the kid's death, and even in his life.

_“It's, what, familiar? Like old times?”_

Wanda had never actually spoken to him about what Steve had told him, about the shell the twins had lain beside for three days with his name blazed across it, but it was still there every time they were in the same room. His fists clenched with an old familiar fury at Obie, so long dead, still fucking Tony over. And then, deeper and more painful, a sharp disgust at himself, for not seeing and stopping him sooner.

So yeah. Maybe moving Pietro from the coffin wasn't the best thing for him to be doing.

Tony kicked the curb impatiently. Being mentally mature didn't always seem to translate to his emotions these days, and he felt generally irritable and useless, despite, or perhaps because of, the coffee in his hand.

He stood outside Dr Cho's building, waiting for the guard to finish calling up to Helen, despite the fact that he was clearly Tony Stark, avenger and genius billionaire, and not some sort of corporate spy – for fuck's sake, he was pretty sure he was paying Helen for most of her research.

The guard waved him through and he let himself into the elevator with a sigh. He sipped his own coffee on the way up, enjoying the slight burn of it down his throat.

Sam, Rhodey, and Helen stood around a monitor when the elevator opened. “Coffee,” Tony called. They all turned, looking grateful. “What's happening?”

“It's progressing much better than I expected,” Helen said, a note of excitement in her voice. “Once we began the process the cells actually began to regenerate themselves.”

“Because of the advanced metabolism?” Tony said, studying the screen.

“It seems so. Just add electricity and they're off.”

Tony whistled slightly, watching the image on the screen, pixels climbing over each other in the shape of a man.

“Who knows?” he said. “This might actually work.”

 

* * *

 

Halfway across the bridge, the darkness began to lift. A gray mist descended upon them.

“Spooky,” Clint deadpanned.

They stopped on the farther shore, resting their feet. Thor passed around a leather bag of dried fruits and meats which they ate hungrily.

“So what now?” Clint asked. Thor shrugged.

“We go that way,” Wanda said, pointing off into the mist.

Clint, Vision, and Thor exchanged a series of “you ask her” glances.

“Why?” Clint said finally, glaring at the other two.

“Because I can feel something over there,” she said dully.

“Wanda, are you alright?” Clint asked nervously.

“No,” she said, standing up and dusting herself off. “Let's go.”

With a shrug, the others pushed to their feet and followed her.

 

* * *

 

“Captain Rodgers,” FRIDAY lilted. “The Barton family car is coming down the driveway. Agent Romanoff is with them.”

Steve nodded, wiping the paint on his fingers off onto his sweatpants, a deep sense of relief spreading through his chest. “Thanks, Friday,” he said. “Is Dr Banner-”

“He is unpacking his things, sir.”

“Okay. Maybe don't let him know yet.”

“Yes, sir.”

He washed the brush he had been using and headed outside just in time to see Laura pulling up to the garage. Excited squeals came from the backseat as Cooper and Lilah banged on the windows. Laura stopped the car and the two mini Bartons exploded out, smashing into Steve's legs.

“Cap!” they shrieked excitedly. Steve laughed, picking up Lilah and ruffling Cooper's hair.

“This is a surprise,” he said.

“Auntie Nat almost threw up in the car,” Lilah said very seriously. “So I gave her mini Cap to hold. Otherwise he'd say hi too.”

Laura came over to him, holding baby Nate on her hip. “I have two very hyper kids and one very drunk assassin for you,” she said. “Don't let either of them near sharp objects.”

“Yes ma'am,” he said. Laura smiled and kissed his cheek. “It's good to see you, Steve. I'm gonna put Nate down for a nap.”

He nodded, putting Lilah down and heading over to the passenger seat where Natasha slept slumped against the window. She woke as he opened the door.  
“Steve,” she slurred cheerfully.

“Okay, up you go,” he said, scooping her up. She smiled.

“You know, you have really good shoulders,” she said earnestly.

“Let's go inside, kiddos,” Steve told the Bartons, ignoring Natasha for now. They scampered off ahead of him. “What did you do?” he muttered to Natasha. She replied in what he thought was Russian.

“English, Nat.”

She burped. “I got drunk.”

He set the kids up in his studio with crayons and construction paper and carried Natasha into the kitchen with a sigh, pouring her a big glass of water and watching as she drank the whole thing. She kept dropping it to babble in various languages Steve didn't speak. He managed to have what passed for a conversation with her once she switched to french, but halfway through she began speaking Russian again and he lost her. He waited patiently for her to finish her water.

“Now bed,” he said sternly, lifting her up once more.

“It's not fair,” she said quietly, nestling into his chest. He sighed, pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“No,” he said. “It's really not.”

 

* * *

 

They had been walking for what felt like an hour but may have been five minutes or a day when the first ghost appeared.

It was pale and gaunt, like a faded black and white photo of a person, and it floated to hang beside Thor in the air, hands reaching towards his hair but never touching.

Others flocked to them after that, brushing up against each other to hover around the travelers. A crowd was gathered around Vision, empty eyes locked on the gem in his forehead.

“Holy shit,” Clint muttered as one drifted past him. “I know that guy. He was a scientist, tried to create a superweapon. Shield had to put him down.”

The ghosts did nothing to hinder their path as the kept moving forward, more and more drifting in their wake.

 _“Wanda,”_ a hoarse voice croaked out of the mist. She stopped dead, the color draining from her face till she resembled one of the ghosts around her.

“Pietro?” she gasped, whirling towards the voice.

“Wanda, no,” Thor said, reaching out to catch her arm, but he missed, hand closing on empty air as she pushed out into the mist. “Wanda!”

She could feel them running after her, hear them calling her name, but the only thing she could think about was the memory of her brother standing on the cliff, reaching towards her. _It's here_ , she thought. _He's here._

“Pietro!” she called. “Pietro!”

The fog cleared suddenly and she was there, standing alone on the empty cliff. She could hear Clint screaming something behind her as she hesitated for just a moment -

 _“Wanda,”_ the voice croaked once more, and she jumped.

Strong hands closed around her waist almost as soon as she left the ground, Vision pulling her up into the air and back down. She thought she could feel him shaking.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Clint screamed, yanking her out of Vision's arms and shaking her. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“I had to get him back!” she sobbed. “It doesn't matter! I've been dead since he left me. I have to get him back!”

“Don't you say that,” he snapped, holding her chin to force her to look him in the eye. “Don't you ever say that, you hear me? You want your brother back? Fine. We're getting him back. You throw yourself off that cliff and we never see him again.” He pulled her in tight to his chest. “Do you feel that?” he said. “I'm here. I'm holding you. You're still alive, Wanda,” he said. “And as long as you are, we can get your brother back.”

There was a sudden, shrieking laughter behind them and they turned, Vision and Thor stepping protectively in front of Clint and Wanda.

They were standing in a vaulted throne room, with walls of ebony and a floor of bone. At the end of the room sat a skeletal woman upon whose head sat a crown of brambles.

“It has been years since I have seen your kind down here,” she creaked.

Thor knelt, nodding to the others to do the same.

“Lady Hel,” he rumbled gravely.

She sat upon an ebony throne, translucent skin pulled tight across her bony frame. Nothing seemed to move in the room. Wanda's very breath felt like a disturbance.

“What the hell?” Clint said, looking around. The skeletal woman grinned.

“Exactly, archer.”

Vision stepped forward slightly. “You have been watching us.”

The woman nodded. “You are entertaining.”

“Luring Wanda off a cliff, that was entertaining to you?” he snapped.

Vision stepped forward again, threatening, angry, and Wanda reached out to grab his hand, his normally cool fingers feeling warm in the chill of the room.

“Do not dare to criticize me,” she croaked. “Here, I am queen. I control all here. And all eventually pass through my kingdom. Even you, the Vision.” Her voice creaked like a sinking ship. Wanda tightened her grip on the android's hand. He looked back at her, a moment of silent communication passing between them, and stepped back closer to her.

“We have a request,” Thor said after a moment.

“You always do.” She sounded almost amused.

“You took this young woman's brother-”

“Liar!” Hel shrieked. A flock of crows took off around them. Wanda ducked behind Vision's cape. Clint drew his bow and pointed it at the goddess.

“That's what she's here for,” Hel rasped. “Tell me why you're here, Odinson.”

Thor stiffened slightly. “I don't know-”

“You do.” Hel's empty eyes bore into Thor's. “Ask it, Odinson.”

He looked around, to Wanda, Vision, eyes lingering on Clint for a moment.

“Ask!” Hel barked.

“May I speak with my brother?” Thor said. Next to him, Clint tensed noticable.

Hel watched him for a moment longer. “You have no brother here.”

“I wish to speak with Loki Laufeyson.”

“He is not here, Odinson.”

Thor's grip tightened on his hammer. “Then where is he?”

She shrugged. “I do not know. But your brother has not passed through my kingdom.”

“What do you mean?” Thor said.

Hel laughed dryly. They could hear her jawbones click. “He is the trickster, Odinson. You have been tricked.”

“I watched him die,” Thor growled.

“He's not here,” Hel said.

“How is that possible?” he roared.

Hel shrugged. “I do not watch your world that closely. Mine is enough for me.”

“But-”

“Thor,” Clint warned.

“No,” Thor snapped. “That is impossible.”

“And yet it is true,” Hel wheezed. She waved a skeletal hand through the still air. “No more, Odinson. I will speak to the mortal now.”

“But-”

“No more,” she said dangerously. “Wanda.”

Wanda stepped forward, still holding Vision's hand. “I am here for my brother.”

Hel stared at her, unimpressed. “Your brother's soul is mine, child.”

“I am here to take it back.”

“No,” Hel said calmly.

“We have a claim to it,” Thor said tightly.

“As do I.”

“Please,” Wanda said softly.

“I have heard requests such as yours since the beginning of time, child,” Hel said. “What makes you different?”

Wanda said nothing. Hel leered.

“Let me guess,” she said. “You love him. He didn't deserve to die. He was so young. You can't live without him.” She laughed dryly. “I have heard all of these arguments and more for men far better than your brother.”

She gestured lazily and the fog at the bottom of the throne solidified, swirling to form a shape Wanda had always known, would always know – the face more familiar to her than her own – her brother was standing ghostly before him.

“Pietro,” she said, and he looked up, eyes uncomprehending.

“Now you I know, Clinton,” Hel said, paying Wanda no mind. “You have been wandering in and out of my kingdom for years. I would have liked to meet Natasha properly as well.”

“I'll pass on your regards,” Clint spat. Hel tilted her head to study him.

“Why are you here, archer?” she asked. “You've spent your whole life avoiding me. Why stop now?”

“I owe the kid a debt,” he said tightly.

“Noble,” Hel creaked. She turned her empty gaze onto Vision. “Now you are something I have never seen before in my kingdom. A man made out of machine.”

“We are here for a reason,” Vision said coolly. “Might we return to it?”

Hel laced her skeletal fingers together with a click. “Cranky.”

“It's been a long day,” Vision drawled.

Hel sighed. “You can't have him. He is mine.”

“Pietro,” Wanda said again, quietly. His eyes searched her face.

“He has almost forgotten you,” Hel said dispassionately.

Wanda's eyes flared red. “I have not forgotten him.”

_She reached out to him, their minds clicking together like puzzle pieces. She offered him little things at first – his favorite color. Saturday morning cartoons. A ragged blue dog he had dragged by the foot. Then bigger. Their first day at school, clutching tight to each others hands as the teacher called their names. Games of hide-and-seek in their apartment. Father's hand ruffling his hair. Mother's lips pressed to his forehead. Every last second buried beneath the rubble, and every moment of laughter that had ever passed between them, their whole lives, laid out for him to see. The sound of his exasperated sigh, passive-aggressive muttering under his breath, the look of pride in his eyes when Wanda did something great, the sense of freedom he felt when he took off running, letting the world fall away into a blur. She gave him everything she could, and when she had nothing left he met her eyes with the full weight of recognition._

“Wanda?” he gasped, and Hel screamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Denouement is rapidly approaching. Hope you're liking reading this as much as I love writing it, and as always let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Pietro is not quite dead yet.

Pietro Maximoff's body lay quietly in the metal casket, tubes and wires pushing his chest up and down mechanically.

“He still looks dead,” Tony said. Rhodey put an arm around his shoulder and Tony felt himself relax slightly.

“You know-” he began when he was suddenly cut off by a loud beeping sound. Helen came running in.

“What's happening?”

“It just started-”

“His brain activity is spiking,” she said, confused. “How is that-”

Pietro sat up suddenly and she screamed in shock. Tony and Rhodey had both thrown their arms up as though they still had gauntlets on to fire against the animated corpse.

“Wanda,” Pietro said, and then collapsed back again, eyes lifeless once more, only the steady beeping of the machine keeping his heart going.

“What the _fuck_?” Tony screamed. Helen was frantically pushing buttons and checking numbers.

“This is insane,” she muttered.

Sam came bursting into the room.

“What's happening?”

“Whatever Clint and Wanda are doing, I think it's working,” Rhodey said.

Sam shook his head. “They better hurry. An earthquake is coming this way.”

“What?” Rhodey said.

“They picked up one of those warning signs or something-”

“No,” Tony said. Everyone looked to him, bent over his tablet. “This isn't an earthquake. I've seen these readings before.” He looked up. “Get me Cap. It's assembling time.”

 

* * *

 

“Wanda,” Pietro's ghost called again, stronger and more certain. Then he looked around. “What the fuck are you doing?” he said in Romanian.

The ground beneath them shook before Wanda could answer and a gaping crack opened under her feet. Vision quickly pulled her into the air.

“We've got incoming!” Clint yelled warningly. At the end of the hall, Hel still screamed with rage, a cloud of black gathering around her. Strange winged creatures were flying swiftly towards them out of it.

“Get me to my brother,” Wanda whispered to Vision as the beasts began to descend.

He flew her through the air, jets of red and gold light shooting out towards the beasts who swarmed them. To the side, Clint and Thor were shooting and smashing the seemingly limitless number of demons as they descended.

“Pietro!” she called again. Vision dropped her beside the pale shadow of her brother and blasted a beam of golden light around them in a circle, incinerating the approaching demons. Pietro gaped at her, lost and scared.

“Trust me,” she said.

He nodded. “Always.”

She reached out to him, red tendrils wrapping around his body and pulling tight, squeezing and compressing it into a tight red orb lit from within by a pale blue glow.

A skeletal hand clenched around her throat and all the breath instantly left her body. She could not breathe. She could not even remember what breathing felt like.

“Mine,” Hel snarled.

The world around her was growing pale. Was the pounding in her chest her heart, or was that the sound of the river filling up her body, carrying her away?

She could not remember her own heartbeat.

_It feels like this._

A rush of energy flooded her being as Vision's mind touched her own, filling her with the same sparkling energy that had carried her away when he had kissed her.

_This is the way your heart beats, the way your lungs expand. You are created to survive. And you are perfection._

She sucked in all of her strength, steeled herself inside – and exploded.

Red light blasted out from her, pushing through everything. Demons incinerated, Vision was sent tumbling back through the air, Clint and Thor clutched at the ground to steady themselves – and Hel's bony grip slipped off her neck. She gasped, grabbed the glowing orb that held her brother's soul and sprinted towards the rest of her team, catching Thor with one hand, wrapping the other around Clint to grab Vision's cape – Thor raised his hammer to the air, crying for Heimdall to open the bridge – a beam of light opened on them – and it faltered and died.

Hel laughed dryly.

“You thought leaving would be that easy?”

 

* * *

 

Bruce was sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room, his glasses off, his eyes closed. For a second the sight of him made Natasha smile, and then it brought tears to her eyes.

“Hey, Doc,” she managed to rasp.

He looked up, startled, and shifted out of his position. “How's your head?” he asked, a little bitterly, a little warily, but it was so dry and so very very _Bruce_ that she had to fight hard against a traitorous smile.

Instead she shrugged. “I've had worse.” She sat down across from him. “I think we should talk.”

“Probably should,” he said.

They sat for a few seconds, watching each other.

“I shouldn't have left the way I did,” Bruce said finally.

“I shouldn't have pushed you off a cliff.”

He shrugged. “I should have realized.”

“Realized what?” she asked.

“This is who you are, Natasha,” he said. “Nothing's ever going to change that. And I can't ask you to change for me.”

“You didn't,” she said.

“I did something.”

“I never lied to you, Bruce,” Nat said quietly.

“I didn't lie either,” he said sadly. “And that's the problem.” He sighed. “We just keep missing each other.”

“So we just stop trying?” she asked desperately.

“I don't know,” he said. “Do you even want to try again?”

“Yeah,” she said, surprising herself a little. “I do. Do you?”

His eyes searched her face, fear and hunger written agonizingly across his expression. “I want nothing more than to be the man who deserves to be with you.”

“Then you're set,” she said.

“I'm not like you, Nat. This isn't my life.”

“You keep saying that,” she said exasperatedly. “But it's not true, Bruce!”

“This isn't a fairytale, Natasha,” he snapped. “Sometimes a beast is just a beast. No matter how pretty the girl.”

“You think I don't know that?” she hissed. “You think I haven't learned in crystal clarity what kind of beasts most men are? You think _that_ is what I like about you?”

He shrugged miserably.

“I met Clint Barton and I thought that was the closest I was ever going to get to love,” she said. “He showed up and he set my world spinning. And everyone else who's ever come close to doing that again, they've always sent me spinning.” She smiled, tears in her eyes. “You're the first person to ever make the world stop. You made me feel safe. You made me feel grounded. And I want that, Bruce. I want that feeling.”

“Nat-”

“Do you want this?” she said. “Do you?”

“I don't know!” Bruce said. “Everything I said, at the farm – it's all true, Nat! There's no future for me!”

“No. You're wrong,” she said. “You do have a future. And it's here. With us. With the Avengers.”

He looked at her brokenly, tears glistening in his eyes. “I just don't know if I can believe that.”

She stepped forward, arms reaching for him – and a klaxon sounded through the base. “Damnit,” she hissed. “Bruce-”

“Go,” he said.

“Wait for me,” she snapped. “We're not done here, Bruce. I know it.”

 

* * *

 

Thor threw his hammer into the air once more. “Heimdall!”

The light flickered and faded. A crowd of demons was slowly circling around them.

“There is no escape, Avengers,” Hel croaked. “This is my kingdom. My world. I rule all, and you-”

“Oh, shut up,” Clint sighed, firing an arrow towards the goddess. She caught it lazily, glaring at Clint – and the arrow tip exploded in her face.

“They always fall for that,” Clint told Wanda with a roguish grin.

“Heimdall!” Thor roared, and with a crackle of thunder the bridge opened and they were sucked away.

Instantly, they could feel something wrong. The bridge felt heavy, labored, like they were being sucked up through a straw.

“Hold on!” Thor yelled, and Wanda pressed her brother's soul to her chest and obeyed.

 

* * *

 

“What the fuck is going on?” Natasha yelled, zipping up her suit as she ran next to Steve.

“Tony thinks aliens are about to attack Seoul.”

“And we believe this?”

“He does have proof,” Steve said, handing her a comm. She pushed it into her ear.

“Start talking, Stark,” she snapped.

“The readings I'm seeing are similar to the wormhole that opened in New York,” Tony's voice crackled in her ear. “They're coming from below this time.”

“Does this have anything to do with-”

“Judging by the fact that he sat up, said his sister's name, and then went back to being braindead about a second before this started, I'd say yes.”

Natasha sighed.

“How soon can you get here?” Tony continued.

“Using Jane's Rosie Einstein bridge-”

_“Einstein-Rosen,_ ” Tony said, sounding pained.

“Five minutes,” Steve finished. “They're firing it up right now.”

The sound of an explosion burst in their ears.

“Tony!” Steve yelled, stopping dead in the hallway.

“I'm fine,” he crackled. “Get here quick. The others just arrived. And they've brought company.”

 

* * *

 

The sirens were still blaring in the hallway as Bruce stepped out of his room in time to catch Maria Hill walking briskly past him.

“What is happening?” he called, catching her arm.

“Aliens,” she snarled, managing to sound simultaneously murderous and exasperated.

“What kind of aliens?” Bruce asked with a sinking stomach.

“The first one just crawled out of the smoking hole Thor left in the middle of the street,” Maria said, showing him a video on her tablet. Horned and winged beasts were pouring out of a crater in the middle of a city street.

“Where is this?” he said, his stomach dropping.

“Seoul.”

“They'll never get to Seoul in time,” Bruce said, watching Tony blasting a creature with a sharp twist of guilt in his stomach.

“We have a teleporter now,” Maria said icily. “I'm rather busy at the moment, Dr Banner.” She took the tablet back with a little more force than necessary and took off down the hallway again.

“When did we get a teleporter?” Bruce asked weakly.

A door banged open behind him and Laura Barton swung out, baby in one arm, pistol in the other. “What the hell is happening?”

“You really are Clint's wife, aren't you,” he said dryly. She glared at him and he cleared his throat. “Apparently aliens are attacking.”

“Here?”

“No. Seoul.”

She sighed. “This is all my husband's fault, isn't it?”

Bruce shrugged. “Probably?”

“So we're not under attack,” she said. Bruce shook his head and she relaxed, tucking the gun back into her waistband.

“Why are you still here?” she asked. “Shouldn't you be avenging?”

“I don't- I'm not-”

“I'm not accusing you of anything,” Laura said quickly. “I just thought, if you were back-” she gestured up to the ceiling where the sirens still screamed. “This looks like a code green to me.”

“It's too dangerous,” he muttered.

“And the aliens attacking are somehow less dangerous than you?”

“Probably.”

She smiled softly. “Wow. You really are perfect for Nat, you know that?”

“What?” he said, completely thrown by the shift in the conversation.

“You may be the only person I've ever seen who's just as unnecessarily tortured by his past as she is,” Laura said gently.

“Unnecessarily?”

“Look, don't ever tell Fury this, but there's not much I don't know about you guys' missions,” Laura said. “You've saved everyone on that team's lives at least once. Including my husbands, by the way, so thank you very much for that.”

“Why are you saying this to me?” Bruce said.

Laura shrugged. “Partially out of maternal instincts. Partly because I really do want you and Nat to work this out. Partially because I am slightly worried about the apparent alien invasion and kind of want everything we've got fighting it.”

“You don't want me,” Bruce said. “Trust me.”

Laura sighed heavily. “Bruce. When was the last time you genuinely lost control?” He opened his mouth to speak. “Magical influence doesn't count.”

He closed his mouth again.

“See?” she said with a smile. “You have a handle on it. And you have a team behind you to help you if and when you slip up.” She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, forcing him to meet her eyes. “I firmly believe that what matters is not what's done to you, but what you do after. You're a good man, Bruce. Natasha deserves a guy like you. But more importantly, you need to realize that you've been given a chance with what's happened to you. You can try and hide it away or destroy it, and the world will just keep on turning. Or you can work to use it, and do some real good with it.” She squeezed his shoulder. “It's your call.”

Bruce smiled distractedly.

“How the hell did Clint manage to marry a woman like you?” he said.

She laughed. “I'll tell you when you get back. Go smash some aliens.”

“Thank you,” he said fervently.

“You're welcome,” she said. “And Bruce? Whatever you decide? You ever pull crap like that on Natasha again and I'll stab you with a rusty kitchen knife.”

He nodded. “Noted,” he said, and disappeared.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END IS NIGH! But fear not - the sequel is already in the works. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you thought!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony hugs the Hulk and misses a chance to quote Enchanted.

They landed with an almighty crash, the sound of sirens already blaring in their ears. Wanda's hands were still locked tight around the glowing orb clasped to her chest as she looked up to see one of Stark's drones hovering above her.

“This area is unsafe. Please evacuate. This area is unsafe.”

“That's ominous,” Clint said, pushing himself up and hooking a comm unit into his ear. “Tony, come in. Your freaky robocops are here and-”

“Look out!” Wanda screamed suddenly, blasting them off their feet and out of the charred circle of pavement with a burst of red light. A giant explosion roared out of the ground, incinerating the droid in the air and radiating heat out.

_Stark,_ Wanda called, searching for his mind. He reached back out to her with a wave of fear and shock.

_What the hell is going on?_

_We've been followed._

_How is that even possible?_

_I don't know, you're the scientist!_

She could feel his grim resignation. _Steve and Nat are on their way. We have to hold them until we can figure out what this is._

“Hold them!” Wanda yelled. Thor swirled, confused.

“Hold who?”

A demon burst out of the column of flame, roaring straight for his neck. A beam of golden light blasted it into ash before Thor could raise his hammer.

“Them,” Vision said dryly.

More demons were descending from the flames. _Stark!_ Wanda screeched inside her head.

_Coming, coming,_ he thought back, skidding to a landing beside her with a repulsor blast to knock out a demon. “Barton, what the hell did you do?”

“I didn't do anything!”

The column of fire shrank back into the ground, revealing a swarming mass of demons filling a seemingly bottomless hole. Tony shot another demon out of the sky. “Clearly, you guys did _something!_ ”

“Hel turned out to be a bit of a pissy bitch, so we had to improvise.”

“Improvise _what?_ ”

“I stole my brother's soul from her,” Wanda said. “And Barton blew up an arrow in her face.”

Tony flipped up his faceplate to stare at her, dumbfounded. “You guys pissed off the Asguardian goddess of the dead?”

“She pissed us off first,” Barton grumbled, releasing another batch of arrows into a group of demons' necks.

“You said you got the soul, though, right?” Tony said.

She nodded to the orb in her hands.

“Okay. Rhodey's guarding your brother on the top floor,” he said. “Hurry.”

 

* * *

 

Steve and Nat materialized inside the quinjet and immediately sprinted for the door.

“Do you ever worry that you'll end up splinched by that thing, like in Harry Potter?” Natasha asked.

“Fortunately, every time I've had to use it I've had bigger worries on my mind,” he said. He put a hand to his comm as they ran out into the sunlight of the roof. “Tell me what we've got.”

“Demons!” Thor bellowed in his ear. Steve sighed, reaching the edge of the building and gazing down upon a sea of chaos.

A giant hole had opened in the center of the mercifully deserted street. Sam swooped past him, wings tucked before banking hard and shooting down a flock of demons. Machine gun fire just below them took out some more – Rhodey, positioned on the top floor. The rest of the avengers were all doing their best to keep the demons from moving too far from the circle, but they were clearly losing ground with every new wave of the beasts.

_Wanda,_ Steve thought loudly, feeling a little ridiculous until she answered him wordlessly, opening the channel between their minds.

_You got what you came for?_ he said.

_Yes,_ she thought. _I need to get to my brother._

_Okay. Grab Vision and go as soon as you can._

“Priority one is containment,” he said into the comms. “Priority two is getting Wanda to the top floor. Keep those things contained, you hear me? I don't want any reaching so much as the next street.”

“Easier said than done, Cap,” Tony said tightly.

An unearthly roar echoed behind Steve and he whirled around just in time to dodge the door to the quinjet flying off its hinges. The Hulk stood panting in the empty doorway.

“Well. This should help,” Steve said.

Hulk roared again.

“Hi,” Steve said awkwardly. “Um. Go smash?”

With a grin, the beast leapt off the roof. “Just be careful of the buildings!” Steve yelled after him. He turned to Nat, who stood looking slightly dumbfounded. “Did you know about that?”

She shook her head weakly.

Below them, the others yelled in shock at the Hulk's sudden appearance. “Bruce!” Tony yelled gleefully. He zoomed up close to the Hulk and wrapped his metal arms around him in a hug. “I've missed you, big guy.”

“Stark, what the hell are you doing?” Natasha said.

With an irritated grunt, Hulk threw him off into the side of a building.

“Okay,” Tony said weakly, plastered in an Iron-man-shaped dent. “We can talk later.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Stark, can you still fly?”

“Yeah,” he said suspiciously.

“Cool.” She stepped up onto the edge of the roof. “Catch.”

She winked at Steve and threw herself off the building.

Tony caught her mid-fall. “Fuck you,” he snapped. Steve chuckled. “Fuck you too, Rodgers, she gets this from you.”

“You just missed an amazing opportunity to quote Enchanted,” Natasha said haughtily. “Take me to Clint.”

They blasted off, Tony's irritated muttering low in Steve's comm.

“Okay. I could use a lift down,” Steve called.

“I got you,” Sam said, swooping up in a wide arc to scoop Steve up off the roof. He kissed him on the cheek as they flew. “Hey, babe.”

“Is now really the time?” Steve said with a grin.

“I missed you,” Sam said, shrugging, dropping Steve a few feet from the ground and swinging back up into the air.

“Why are you still here?” Steve yelled across the street to Wanda, flinging his shield into a row of demons.

She nodded, looked around. “Vision!”

He appeared at her side instantly, phasing through the crowd between them. A moment of silent communication seemed to pass between them before he swept her up in his arms and took off.

Steve's shield returned to him and he caught it with one hand, watching his teammates rise into the air before plunging back into the fray.

 

* * *

 

Vision's arms were steady underneath Wanda as they flew, dodging demons left and right as they ducked and weaved upwards. The orb Wanda clutched to her chest began to hum, slow and steady, as though it could sense that it was coming home.

The top floor was hidden by a thick swarm of demons. Flashes of light and falling bodies let them know where Tony was, while Sam swooped up and down around the beasts, knocking them out of the sky. “Hold on,” Vision said quietly in her ear. She did, wrapping an arm around his neck and clinging tightly to her brother's soul. Demons came at them from all sides, a beam like a floodlight pouring out of Vision's forehead and incinerating them. Their screams bounced around her, and she pressed her head into his chest trying to block it out. The orb's vibrations shook her whole arm.

There was the sudden rattling of a machine gun, cutting through the sound of the screaming, and then Rhodey's unmistakable voice:

“I. _Hate._ Aliens.”

Vision lowered her gently to the floor as she looked around the lab. Rhodey flipped back his visor. “You okay, kid?”

Wanda nodded. “Where is he?”

“Back-” A demon charged the window and Rhodey blasted it away. “In the big metal casket.”

Vision and Wanda hurried over, peering over the edge of the metal container. Wanda swallowed a gasp at the sight of his body lying there. He was so still, so silent. This neat and orderly body was not her brother, who brimmed with so much energy that he was constantly moving, who twitched and mumbled in his sleep, who's foot beat out an incomprehensibly fast rhythm when he sat. Her grip tightened on the orb.

“Do you know what you're doing?” Vision said.

Wanda shrugged. “Not really,” she said, and she plunged the orb into his chest.

The reaction outside was instantaneous. A great gust of wind howled out of the hole, sucking the demons back down its maw. The Avengers all ducked. Steve planted his shield two inches into the concrete. Thor grabbed a lamppost. Natasha and Clint gripped the curb and each others hands, while above them Sam and Tony clung to the side of the building with their fingertips. Hulk simply sat. They could hear a furious and unearthly shrieking from deep within the ground, and it sounded to each of them like a voice they knew, calling for them to let go, to come back, to join them, save them, please-

Clint squeezed Natasha's hand tighter. “Don't let go,” he said.

“Of you,” she panted, “or the curb?”

“Both,” he gasped.

She wrapped her fingers around his. “I've got you.”

Inside, a wind was swirling around Wanda, her eyes aglow, her hands planted on her brother's chest. She let out a long, strangled hiss. Beneath her, Pietro writhed and jerked. The machines were screaming around them. Rhodey clung to the doorframe, expression awestruck and frightened. Vision stood firmly planted against Wanda's winds, eyes locked only on her.

“What is happening?” Rhodey yelled.

“Trust her,” Vision said. “She can do it.”

Wanda's whole body was lit from within. The glow was spreading down towards Pietro, into his chest, his face, his arms. They rose slightly in the air, hovering, shining, like the worlds most powerful constellation- and then Wanda threw back her head and let out an almighty shriek, a sound to wake the dead.

Pietro opened his eyes.

 

* * *

 

The wind let up so suddenly that gravity seemed to reassert its hold on them with a vengeance, all of them collapsing back into the ground with thuds. Steve lay there for a moment, catching his breath, running a brief diagnostic on himself – no broken bones, no cracked ribs, he may have pulled a muscle in his leg and he was bleeding from the arm but it wasn't too serious -

A low growl filled his ears.

“Hulk,” he said warningly.

The green giant was standing at the edge of the hole, every muscle tensed in his back. He snarled at the abyss.

“Nat,” Steve said. “I could really use a lullabye.”

“You really think it'll work?” she said nervously.

Hulk snorted irritably.

“If you don't do something he's going to jump in there after those things.”

“Steve, it's a trust thing, I'm not sure if he still-”

“Nat!”

She had seen it before he did, moving with lightening speed and grace to slide in between the hole and the Hulk before he could complete his jump, her hand stretched out to the beast.

“Hey, big guy,” she said. “You're not going to disappear on me again, are you?”

Hulk paused, considering her. She smiled encouragingly. “That's right. Remember me?”

He tilted his head, eyes watching hers. “Remember?” she said again, hand still reaching.

Something like a smile softened his features and was mirrored on Natasha's face. “Sun's getting real low,” she murmured, and he placed his palm in hers. She grinned, tears burning in her eyes as he shuddered, shrunk, and she reached out and caught-

“Bruce?”

He blinked up at her, confused. “Did we win?”

She laughed, a tear spilling down her cheek. “Yeah. I think we did.”

He reached up to wipe the tear away. “Good,” he said, and kissed her.

“This doesn't mean everything has to be fixed,” he said, pulling back after a moment.

“I know,” she said, moving back in.

“I understand if you're still mad,” he said. “We still have a lot of issues. I don't want to invalidate any of your feelings.”

“Bruce?” she said. “The only feeling you're invalidating right now is how badly I want to kiss you.”

He grinned. “Well, okay then,” he said, and pulled her down to kiss her again.

 

* * *

 

Wanda collapsed backwards into Vision's waiting arms as Pietro sat up, brushing away tubes and wires with a superhumanly fast flick of the wrist and practically leaping out of the casket to pull her from Vision's arms.

“Are you alright?” he said worriedly, rapidly scanning for any injuries. Wanda began to laugh uncontrollably. “What?” he said.

“You were dead thirty seconds ago,” she said, gently cupping his face. “Are you alright?”

He stared at her, eyes filled with dawning comprehension and a wondrous combination of love and sadness and awe. “You saved me,” he said.

“Of course I did,” she said, brushing back his hair. “Of course I did.”

He pulled her in tight, arms locked around her, the two of them just breathing each other in, her hands pressed to his chest, on his neck, where she could feel his heart pound and feel his lungs expanding, and for the first time since she'd felt him ripped away, Wanda felt whole once more.

“Oh, thank god.”

They looked up to the doorway, where the Avengers stood silhouetted. Wanda ran into Clint's arms, tears streaming down her face. He kissed her forehead, held her tight. “You done good, kid,” he said. Then he opened his arms wider. “C'mere, you quick little bastard.”

Pietro was there in less than a second. “Thank you,” Clint murmured, arm wrapped around his shoulders. Wanda could feel her brother beginning to shake and squeezed Pietro's hand tight.

They stepped back, looked to the rest – who enveloped them in hugs as well. Steve was crying openly. Sam and Rhodey introduced themselves for the first time. There was a very awkward reunion with Bruce, smoothed over by Clint threatening to hang him off the roof by an arrow then hugging him and crying. Natasha gently checked Wanda for any injuries before stroking her face and telling her she was proud of her. Steve's phone rang and he paled before answering it.

“Director Fury, sir, I would have called you-”

“What the damn hell is going on?”

“Sir-”

“I go to the Bahamas for one week and you decide its time to destroy Seoul?”

“We had no civilian casualties-”

“Congratulations, you did your damn job. Now why the hell did you have to do it?”

“Sir, if it makes you feel any better, we did recover an asset.”

“Which asset?”

“Quicksilver.”

There was a very long silence.

“I'm taking another vacation,” Fury said, and hung up.

“Does anyone have champagne?” Tony said. “I'm sure there's some on the quinjet, hold on.”

Wanda and Vision had gravitated back towards each other, almost but not quite touching. Pietro took one look at them and threw up his hands. “Really? Really? I'm dead for three months and you start sleeping with the robot?”

“Android,” Vision said indignantly.

“I hate you,” Wanda hissed, face scarlet.

Tony returned with a bottle of champagne and passed around the glasses. “Alright,” he said, raising his. “Pietro. To your good health.”

“Hear, hear,” they all chorused. Wanda slipped her hand into Pietro's as she took a sip.

_Never leave me again,_ she thought.

_I'll do my best_ , he thought back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

The sun was just beginning to set outside the broken windows. Without speaking, they all moved to the edge of the building and sat, leaning against each other to watch the day end.

Wanda closed her eyes, and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like she was falling. She felt her brothers hand in hers, Vision's chest against her back, Clint's head in her lap, Natasha's foot tapping hers, a living, breathing pile all around her, and she felt like she was flying.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see the next chapter for my notes :)


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months later

_THREE MONTHS LATER_

“No, no, no, no, _no!_ ”

There was a collective sigh from around the room.

“Come on, Tony, it was a good movie,” Bruce said.

“It was _not_ a good movie. Spock and _Uhura_?”

“We watched all the star wars movies, and god knows that was torturous,” Clint said. “It's part of their education. Let them form their own opinions.”

“As I recall, I strongly protested watching that too.”

“Play the damn movie, Bruce,” Rhodey called, throwing his hands in the air.

“Do _not_ play the movie, Bruce. Friday, voice control only.”

There was a collective groan. Natasha and Clint began pelting Tony with popcorn.

“Fine. Fine!” he cried, throwing up his hands. “We'll put it to a vote. All in favor of _Star Trek_?”

Everyone except Tony raised their hands. Tony slumped back onto the couch, crossing his arms.

“Et tu, Brute?” he snapped at Natasha, her hand still high. “I thought you were my sci-fi ally.”

Nat shrugged, curled up into Bruce's side. “What can I say? Chris Pine is hot.”

“What?” Bruce said, looking down at her her. She rolled her eyes.

“Just play the movie,” she said, stretching up to kiss him.

The opening credits began. Next to Wanda, Pietro stretched and stood.

“Anyone want anything?” he said to the room. They called out various requests, and Pietro vanished in a streak of blue only to return seconds later with the various snacks. Wanda pushed up against Vision to let him back in.

_Are you alright?_ Pietro thought at her, pulling open a packet of twizzlers and handing one to her.

She nodded, looking around the room, at Rhodey covering Tony's mouth with one hand, at Clint and Laura cradling Nathaniel in between them, Lilah and Cooper dozing at their feet. At Steve leaning forward to braid Thor's hair, Sam's arm wrapped around his waist, at Natasha whispering in Bruce's ear, at Vision gazing intently at the screen. At her brother, tossing popcorn into the air next to her and catching it in his mouth.

_Yes,_ she thought back at him. _We're home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read, liked, or commented on this. This has been one of of my favorite things I've ever written, so thank you so much for coming along for the ride. If you want more, follow me on tumblr at bunnyspek.tumblr.com and keep your eyes out for a sequel that I've been planning since I started this one.   
> Again, thank you all so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


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